'Raj' yet again from YRF

Rating: 6/10 (15 December 2008)

Rab Ne opens with a bespectacled SRK with mustaches, wearing trousers and sneakers, alighting a train with his bride. That shot, at once, shatters the image that SRK has had over the years in Yashraj films. I could sense excitement running through my veins. But alas, it was short lived. Very soon, they return to 'Raj' business that we have been made to endure over the years.
SRK impresses as the docile Sukhi but as Raj he varies from flamboyant to a buffoon. The newcomer Anushka Sharma is very impressive. This is easily the best debut performance of the year so far. She is convincing throughout the film and is not intimidated by the towering presence of SRK.
Sukhwinder Singh ('Hole Hole') and Sunidhi Chouhan ('Dance pe Chance') lend their voices to probably the two best sung songs of the year. Both are choreographed equally well.
Rab Ne does have a story but it lacks any subtlety. For some reasons, SRK speaks out all emotions leaving nothing for the viewers to extrapolate. No time is spent on telling us how Taani falls in love with Sukhi. The only apparent explanation is that she sees Sukhi walking towards her in the background of the Golden Temple. It seemed that SRK's character, while playing the Sukhi vs. Raj game, got confused in what he really wanted to achieve after all.
Aditya Chopra is a talented director and I don't doubt that. But Rab Ne is just a box-office pleaser attempt and not anything to test himself.