Churni Ganguly defends clichés about Bengalis portrayed in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani will be released on Friday, and ever since the film’s trailer dropped earlier this month, fans and celebs alike have been gushing about the film. In a new interview with News18, actor Churni Ganguly, who plays Alia Bhatt’s mother in the film, has addressed the criticism of how Karan Johar has portrayed a Bengali family in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Also read: Jaya Bachchan scolds paparazzi at Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani screening

Reacting to the buzz around a scene that has come under scrutiny, where Ranveer Singh’s Rocky mistakes a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore as Alia’s character Rani Chatterji’s ‘dadaji (grandfather)’, Churni defended how the film portrays Bengalis. She added ‘portraits of Tagore are seen in many Bengali houses’.

Churni says film shows quintessentially Bengali family

She told News18, “There are certain events that have gradually crept into the Bengali system but if you want to project a family as quintessentially Bengali, you need to include these things. I think that things like Ranveer’s character addressing Rabindranath Tagore as dadaji worked well for us. Portraits of Tagore are something you see in many Bengali houses.”

Churni further said, “When you’ve to project a Bengali family, you need to refer to certain stereotypes. These aren’t even stereotypes. According to me, it’s all essentially ‘very Bengali’. We still don’t wear lehengas at our weddings; we’ve still stuck to our sarees.”

Alia Bhatt’s look as a Bengali grabbed attention

Soon after the trailer dropped, Alia Bhatt’s Rani Chatterjee in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani was compared to other iconic Bengali characters portrayed over the years in Hindi films, such as Vidya Balan as Parineeta, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Paro in Devdas and Deepika Padukone as Piku Banerjee.

Many had also compared Alia and Deepika’s fashion sense in their films Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and Piku, respectively. Some even said that Alia was imitating Deepika’s style with her sarees, heavy jhumkas as well as her black bindi. Many others had said Deepika’s accent in Piku was more authentic compared to Alia’s as Rani.

About Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

The Karan Johar film marks Ranveer and Alia’s reunion after Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy (2019). Veteran actors Dharmendra and Jaya Bachchan are part of Ranveer’s family – the Randhawas. Bengali actors Tota Roy Chowdhury and Churni as well as veteran actor Shabana Azmi play Alia’s family – the Chatterjees – in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. The film charts Rocky and Rani’s love story as they deal with their ‘very different’ families.