Gerua

The Shahrukh Khan-Kajol starrer Dilwale has already created waves of expectations in the minds of millions of romance-hungry Indians, myself included.

Gerua is such a magical goosebump inducing song because it takes me back in time to their cute Raj & Anjali days in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It also reminds me of their more sensual Suraj Hua Madham number from K3G. 

My idea of romance started & ended with Raj, Rahul & Rohit. SRK’s witty one-liners & hilarious hand gestures to emphasize who he is, to every hot girl he meets, in every single movie of his, always left me in peals of laughter.

I wondered how it was possible for such a mediocre looking man to be goofy & romantic at the same time. I wanted someone to tell me; “Raj, naam toh suna hoga” in real life as well.

My adolescence was filled with notions of the impossible love which SRK made possible in every movie of his. I knew right then that I had to have a dramatic love story with fireworks, action, comedy & lots of romance. I was not going to settle down with the first “Well to do Mallu boy from the Gelf who is a doctor” whose alliances were flowing in slowly & steadily.

Inspired by all those SRK movies & with an accelerated adrenaline pumping through my naive 21 year old veins I decided to move to Mumbai on a whim, much to my parents horror. I had already been campus placed with a leading MNC IT company in Chennai as a Technical Writer. The brand name of the company caught my fancy for 2 minutes but the designation seemed as dry as toast. I knew I would never settle down into a non-creative job.

I found myself working for a mid-sized youth magazine in Mumbai as a Features Writer. One of my very first assignments on the job was to interview a humour metal band in Mumbai called “Workshop”. They were a funny looking bunch of boys in blue boiler suits & bright yellow hard hats.

The lead guitarist of the band was a “Raj”.  But he didn’t seem to have any interest in Bollywood or SRK. This “Raj” had long curly unkempt hair, wore sloppy bathroom slippers & was always in shorts & metal band T-shirts.

But there was something about him despite his appearance. He was well-mannered, polite & street smart. I found myself drawn to him & ended up spending all my free time post office hours with him, his band mates & his college friends.

We didn’t have a grand Bollywood romance like Kajol & SRK but we had our share of drama, fireworks, action & comedy. That was 8 years ago. We met as 21- year old kids & have grown older & wiser together into our late 20s. I found my “Raj” at the most unlikeliest of places minus the Bollywood glitz & glamour. I wish there was a little bit of Bollywood in him, but no one can have their cake & eat it too, right?