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“Jab We Met” is a pretty traditional romance narrative at surface level, which is also quietly but very effectively subverting a lot of the common romance tropes. It’s one of my favorite Bollywood movies, but it’s rarely one that I use to convert people mostly because it isn’t a movie that could only exist in Bollywood. It’s a pretty universally awesome romance narrative, all around.
HOWEVER, there is an aspect of it that makes it more subversive given the cultural context, which is that the heroine, while wanting a romantic happy ending for herself, wants one that’s traditionally frowned upon by her culture.
While the narrative starts with the premise of a Brooding Hero meeting his Manic Pixie Dreamgirl, that’s where the similarities end. Because we find out a lot more about Geet, her hopes and dreams, and her family than we ever do about him. One of the only things we do know about him is that at some point in his childhood, his mother ran off with another man because she didn’t love his father. The language used to describe her elopement will give you an idea of just how huge of a deal elopement is in this culture, and what kind of social disgrace Geet is possibly setting herself up for by wanting to elope.
However, the movie has Geet identifying with the mother pretty early on, and before the movie ends, this turns into an epic commentary on women and their choices and about doing what makes you happy rather than following social conventions that stifle you. So the most important thing we DO know about him still becomes about her. <3
I never have much to say about men in fiction, but the male protagonist of this movie is one that I quite like. He spends a good part of the movie being in love with her, but never even telling her, because he sees that as his own issue, and nothing *she* should be burdened with. Like, he has ZERO need for his feelings for her to be validated or returned. Which NEVER happens in romance narrative (except for in “Pride and Prejudice,” and that’s why it’s my favorite.)
And Geet! <3 Geet is one of the most self-assured and confident heroines I have ever come across in any narrative. She knows what she wants, and she has no hesitation or doubts about how she’s going to get it. She has a strong sense of self that briefly wavers in the face of the utter force of everything that’s against her, but comes back stronger than ever.
This is, by all means, set up as a narrative where the heroine would Learn Her Lesson about Wanting Unconventional Things, but the entire movie sets out to show HER way of life as the correct one, with everyone around her adapting to her worldview. Even though the specifics of what she wants for herself change, she still gets the exact kind of happy ending she set out to chase for herself.
I also love her need to create drama and constantly strive to write out a more interesting narrative for herself than the one life would otherwise give her. She reminds me of Jane Austen’s Emma Woodhouse or Catherine Morland, except that both of these women had to learn a lesson about Needing to be Serious/Mature (from the men they loved), while Geet keeps on being herself, and the guy has to change himself to adapt to her viewpoint. <3
Like, the speech that both Emma and Catherine get from the Men Who Love Them and Know Better? Geet gets that about halfway through the movie, only to totally set the guy straight, and that is literally the actual moment he falls for her. BECAUSE SHE REFUSED TO SUBSCRIBE TO HIS WORLD VIEW. And then he subscribes to her awesomeness. You should, too.