Throwback Thursday: Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage Shows Women As Weak Damsels In Distress Waiting To Be Rescued
When Kaho Na Pyaar Hai Released, I fell in love with Hrithik Roshan. I was nine years old and he became my first crush ever. I was crazy about him for four years and watched every single film that he did, several times. Even Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage. I watched it so many times, because I didn’t care about the plot; I cared about the visuals and for me the only relevant one was Hrithik Roshan.
Then my obsession died and I grew up. But to be honest, I knew it back then too that this was a shitty movie. You know how we tend to keep dating the guy that’s so wrong for us until finally we get some sense. Yep. That.
Anyway, since I pick a movie every Thursday to tear down for its nonsensical content, why not take Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage? It’s got so much to criticise, it’s like a buffet for my brains.
Sapna (Ameesha Patel or however she spells her name these days) is unfortunately stuck in a don family, where her father seems like the lesser of an evil because her brother is just downright crazy. She and her bhabhi are living like caged birds. They don’t allow Sapna to go to college or anywhere else. Bitch be laughing at all of us crying over being quarantined at home. But that doesn’t mean she will do full face of makeup, in case you’re looking for things to do at home.
Looking at her frustration with “maut ka khel” that her fam keeps indulging in, Sapna’s bhabhi pacifies her saying she is just a “mehmaan” in the house. That’s what daughters are, apparently. She tells her that soon she will be rescued by a prince charming and that happens, except her future charming boyfriend is barely a prince.
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And how do you show the entry of that prince? Sapna is returning from her friend’s wedding and her car is intercepted by goons that honestly look highly ineligible. Rohit(Hrithik Roshan) happens to reach the spot and single-handedly takes all of them as Sapna does nothing but be a log. That’s when you see her sudden bouts of hyperventilation for the first time, which looks like someone got an asthma attack while orgasming, you will be confused because what is this plot twist? No offence to orgasms or asthmatics.
Come Navratri and it’s the lovers’ time to shine. That’s the only realistic thing in the movie, considering how condom sale shoots up during Navratri in India. They flirt and fall in love. He takes her out and she experiences freedom for the first time in life. She even meets his parents, who are way cheesier to be true. If someone’s mother told me I brighten up her home in the first meeting, I would be so scared and run. But apparently, it’s normal.
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It’s such a typical drama – rich girl and poor guy; damsel in distress and knight in shining armour; guy fights off goons and girl cries. I don’t think any of my male friends can take up armed goons single-handedly. Being a man doesn’t mean you’re brawny. Being a woman doesn’t mean you have to appear with a pooja ki thaali and start getting panic attacks at the slightest of stressful events.
ALSO READ: Throwback Thursday: Raja Hindustani Is About A Sexist Man Who Needs His Woman To Bow Down To Him And That Hasn’t Changed 24 Years Later
Sapna runs away with Rohit. Her don family wants to kill Rohit and they try to. But he is invincible because even after being shot so many times, beaten up black and blue and almost being declared dead, he returns. I mean, this man could be Captain America and we had no clue. Now I understand why he would risk flirting with a don’s daughter. Anyway, so Sapna decides to consume poison and she starts bleeding from her mouth. That looked like she just spat some paan but okay. Her family decide to let the fight go because they don’t want her to die. I wonder why didn’t she threaten them earlier? Only if she had used her energy on sharpening her IQ instead of hyperventilating consistently.
