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While The Roshans felt like an emotional journey of this iconic film family, here’s why it felt short of deep diving into their legacy!
The Roshans review: After giving us two gripping documentaries, ‘The Romantics’ and ‘Modern Masters: S.S. Rajamouli’, Netflix is back with another docu-series on yet another film family. Contributing to Hindi cinema since the 40s, The Roshans have a 60 year legacy that was waiting to unfold in front of the world. The series, directed by Shashi Ranjan brings the biggest names of Bollywood together to share their own insights and anecdotes about the legendary family.
It all started with Roshan Nagrath, a music composer and the one who passed down all the talent in this family. In the very beginning of the series, you see Hrithik Roshan listening to an old composition by his grandfather for the first time. He then proceeds to say that this is the story of how they went from ‘Nagrath’ to ‘Roshan’, but funnily enough, we never get to know how or why they changed their surnames. What we do learn is that Roshan Nagrath made a career of his own, right from scratch. He shifted to Mumbai with little to nothing in his pocket and pretty much relied on his talent to get him work. It's insightful to see how the biggest film families today also started with nothing at one point. When he started his work in films, he was popularly known for his sad songs. Just like directors and actors, music composers too were known for their particular style. Just like R.D. Burman was known for his love songs, Roshan Nagrath was known for his sober sur.
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Truth be told, none of us really knew much about The Roshan family, except for the Greek god that awakened something in an entire generation. So this docu-series felt like a good way of introducing the long lost icons of Hindi cinema to the youngsters of today. The first two episodes give enough and more information about Roshan Nagrath and Rajesh Roshan. Just like his father, Rajesh Roshan stepped into the world of music as well. It was eye opening to see how he is the composer behind evergreen songs like ‘Pardesiya Ye Sach Hai Piya’ where Rekha danced with utmost joy, the soundtrack for ‘Julie’ that people still hum and of course, ‘Ae Mere Dil Tu Gaye Jaa’ for his nephew’s first film. Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai remains so special even today; its current re-release should tell you that so to see how it all came together was nostalgia at its best.
While two icons from the family were given a well-deserved introduction, the back story for the other two felt short. Rakesh Roshan speaks about the making of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, Karan Arjun, Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. But it all felt like they didn't speak about either of the films in detail, rather just brushed upon it. The only thing we disocvered from this is that Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan were mean to him on the sets of Karan Arjun, and Hrithik almost died while filming Krrish because of a stunt gone wrong. His part of the episode ends with a weird re-creation of the day that he was shot by the underworld back in the 2000s. But for people like me, who were mere toddlers back then, we need proper explanation of what happened and how severe this news was back then. They never even get into why it all happened which makes the episode feel incomplete.
But Hrithik Roshan’s episode is the one that felt the most disappointing out of the four. I mean he is HRITHIK ROSHAN - our hearts stop when we see him on-screen! He has given us movies that will remain etched in our hearts forever. It was sad that none of the people that worked with him shared any insights about what it was really like to be around him. Karan Johar did not dive into his part in K3G, Sanjay Leela Bhansali did not speak about his performance in Guzaarish, and his co-stars like Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra and Ameesha Patel were only gushing about him. His episode became less about him and more about other things that happened in his family somehow. I get that their intention might be to speak more about the other two Roshans but this felt like a star was completely sidelined.
What's often spoken about in the docu-series is ‘discipline’. Each one of them were brought up with the idea of dedicating themselves to the craft, and hence they are who they are. Even Rakesh Roshan’s battle with cancer which is spoken about in the series, is a much needed lesson on willpower. It is astonishing to see how much he has been through and how he has risen up each time. There’s interviews given by other members of the Roshan family as well. After a point, it does feel more like a heartfelt ‘parivaarik’ video that we’re watching.
The Roshans ends with Hrithik's twins, Hrehaan and Hridaan playing the guitar as their entire family watches, and it makes you realize how the talent is passed down generation after generation in this family. You start the series with a lot of hope but it definitely isn’t the best amongst the many movie-related documentaries released lately!
The Roshans is currently streaming on Netflix!
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