New Delhi: 'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani' has been receiving a lot of appreciation for its performances, story, songs and dance sequences, comedy and so much more. The Karan Johar directorial stars Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in the lead with Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan in key roles. In the film, Dharmendra is married to Jaya Bachchan's character. However, Dharmendra's extramarital relationship with Shabana Azmi's character in the film has triggered a debate on Reddit where users ask if the film justifies adultery.
In 'Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani', we see Alia Bhatt's character question her grandmother Shabana Azmi( Jamini) about cheating on her husband but no one seems to question Dharmendra on him cheating on Jaya Bachchan, why, perhaps because he suffers memory loss and a personal physical accident which justifies it.
This debate began when a Reddit user tweeted a picture of Dharmendra and Shabana from the film and wrote, "Karan Johar and his obsession with infidelity is sickening! Please don’t watch #RockyAurRaniKiPremKahani if you’re triggered by adultery, this movie has not only glorified but also JUSTIFIED infidelity! Cheating is never okay, no matter how unhappy you are in your relationship.”
Another Reddit user took a screenshot of the post and shared a thread titled,"‘Can we stop normalizing adultery!’However, soon after, users argued against the stand. One said, "What’s worse than cheating is abuse - mental and emotional included. And using children and money and society to keep you tied to the marriage. But that’s so normalized, no one even talks about it and it’s just accepted as ‘marriage.’"
Another Reddit user wrote, "I hundred per cent agree that K Jo and too an extent Zoya very much justify cheating. Especially K jo justifies it in almost every movie ie KANK. But with that being said the way he did it in Rocky Aur Rani was very intriguing and empathetic. Cause yes one should never cheat but especially Shabana’s character was in an abusive marriage, and compared to her abusive husband in comes Dharmendra. Like I get why people are saying it’s glorification but in any media this movie was one of the best most human portrayals of cheating.”
Another user pointed out Kanwal's home was also an abusive space. They wrote, "Have y'all even watched the film properly? Neither was in a happy marriage which was actively because of their spouse. They even explicitly show what an abusive household did to Ranveer's father and his relationship with Dharmendra.”
A user defended Karan Johar and said that no one gets inspired to commit adultery after watching a KJo film. That kind of logic would suggest that people get inspired to commit robbery in a bank after watching Money Heist.
“Nobody is normalising anything and art always imitates life in these scenarios. Adultery existed in India long before KJo learnt to make movies and it will continue to exist long after he stops making movies. Although, I will agree on one aspect that using adultery as a plot device in every movie of his is tedious at this point but that's not the same as normalising it.” The user said.