The Romantics Review - A Fascinating Journey of YRF's Legacy 

The Romantics follows the journey of the two "Big Chopras" of B-Town, Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra, through a docuseries format. This new form of storytelling is the safest bet for filmmakers because it's a non-narrative process. You don't have to worry about the story because you don't have any. You just take multiple people and ask them to open up about their experiences without any script, and everything that comes out is highly organic. This Smriti Mundhra's docuseries is blessed to have one of the finest contents to explore, and fortunately the data is unlimited. It feels like four episodes are not enough to explore the journey of YRF. They had to miss out on many movies and events due to the 4-hour runtime. Having a story on Yash Chopra and Aditya is no less than a big golden egg. All you have to do is lay it properly, and the baby is certain to have good health and shape.The Romantics has a peculiar structure from the writer's point of view because it has no head and no tail, like in mainstream format. The series is four episodes long and has only one aim: to explore the cultural impact and legacy of Chopras in Hindi cinema. While doing so, it doesn't shy away from accepting several heartbreaking facts and bad experiences, and it's a very good move. A docudrama should be as real as it can get, and Smriti knew it. She also knew that you cannot whitewash anybody when everything is available in the public domain, such as old clips, articles, write-ups, and recorded statements. Like every human being, Aditya and Yash Chopra both struggled with some things in their lives, and the series doesn't limit itself to glorifying them. Rather, it's a straight-forward take on their professional achievements, just like they always wanted.Whatever you see in The Romantics is nothing new, except for a few shocking facts. I mean, who would've thought that Aditya Chopra was a better dancer than Hrithik Roshan!!?? Karan Johar evidently reveals it. Who would've imagined that Aditya Chopra had to follow Shah Rukh Khan for months to do DDLJ, and SRK was barely interested in doing that film? Who knew that Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra had creative differences on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge's sets? After all this, the film turned out to be the biggest hit ever in YRF and Shah Rukh Khan's filmography. As they say, it was in their destinies. The Romantics will ride you through this nostalgic theme park.Smriti has worked on nuances, mainly historical events of the time. Yash Chopra's most popular films belong to the romance genre, but I am a huge admirer of his early works like Dhool Ka Phool (1958), Dharmaputra (1961), Waqt (1965), Ittefaq (1969), Daag (1973), and Deewar (1975). All these films were made before the Emergency, and after that, Hindi cinema also changed. Action films took over, and the top hits of the decades were mostly action films, except for Raj Kapoor's Sangam (1964) and Bobby (1974). The Romantics didn't mention this vital fact. In one of the segments, it openly blamed the action and masala flicks of the early 80s. How could anyone forget Kranti (1981) so easily, which was the biggest hit of the 1980s decade and perhaps the last of the true red multistarrer action entertainers in Bollywood? Yes, Chandni (1989) redefined romance—mostly for the urban section—but the craze and love Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989) received were 10 times bigger. Yes, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is a trendsetter and the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema, but it could never match the collections and family values of Hum Apke Hai Kaun! (1994). YRF's recent string of unsuccessful films ended with Pathaan, and that's what the lengends do. They don't stop after one or two failures; they continue their passion and achieve success with their work. Missing out on these facts was a big mistake considerably. I would've loved to see the inclusion of Spy-Universe, Broadway, and other recent events in Indian cinema, such as how South and Hollywood films have overtaken our Hindi market. The Romantics were shot before, so naturally they missed it, but let's just accept that it would have been a big bonus.The Romantics is a nostalgic journey, but you have to be a Bollywood fan, a movie fan, or a fan of one of the superstars who is seen speaking in the series to understand it. Unfortunately, it's scattered because the linear equation isn't handled properly. That would have looked better because then you would have gotten to see their journey with a perfect line-up of events. The Romantics shuffles the events, and the editing skills are put on cold burner there. However, I liked the climax portion that features Yash Chopra's demise. As an audience of Hindi cinema, we have become habituated to watching emotional endings, and The Romantics follows the traditional pattern, despite knowing that it hurts the linear equation of the narrative. That's the masterstroke. Again, you have a burning quote coming from Adi Sir: "What happens to YRF after me?" That's a general question, but we never think about it. YRF stood strong after Yash Chopra's departure because Aditya Chopra was there, but who will be the next Aditya Chopra? "I'll die my boots on," and "This one will too." These two quotes hit hard and right at the core of your heart. The emotions are there, just like in any film, or, should I say, slightly more.I am still confused why this docuseries has been named The Romantics? If it isn't just about romance, then why? Or did they use the other meaning of the word from mediaeval times? Smriti Mundra's case study is not concrete, but it isn't abstract either. I can only imagine the amount of pressure she felt before taking on this project. I mean, taking interviews of 35 people, bringing Aditya Chopra in front of the camera, telling the story that spans across 8 decades, carrying forward the iconic moments from classic movies, and giving a sneak peek into national events isn't an easy task. Smriti did that, so let's have a moment of applause for her. What's missed is missed; forget it and let's enjoy what she gathered. If this is how you make docuseries on filmmakers, then bring more stuff like this on bigger legends like V. Shantaram, Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, and many more. A major chunk of our audiences is not aware of all-time greats like DW Griffith, Fritz Lang, John Ford, Buster Kearton, Charlie Chaplin, Williams Wyler, Billy Wilder, Ingmar Bergman, and Jean Renoir, so better give them a case study of our legends. And you have so many of your favourite stars, their iconic moments, and memories to cherish in The Romantics. Turn binge mode on right this minute because The Romantics is just Fascinating!