Churni Ganguly Defended Karan Johar From Criticism By The Netizens

Director Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani has been released. It has emerged as one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, with its music, nostalgic scenes, and costumes grabbing the attention of many, and ever since the film's trailer dropped earlier this month, fans and celebs have been waiting for the film. But Karan Johar's movie means criticism. One particular scene from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani Cinema, that has come under scrutiny is where Ranveer Singh’s Rocky mistakes a portrait of Ranbindranath Tagore for Alia's character Rani’s Chatterji’s 'dadaji'.

Actress Churni Ganguly, who played Alia Bhatt's mother in the film, defended how the film portrays Bengalis. She said, 'Portraits of Tagore are seen in many Bengali houses'.

She told a news agency, "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 got 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."

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, hairstyles, and Black Bindi. Many others had said Deepika's accent in Piku was more authentic compared to Alia's as Rani.