Raabta(2017) – the connection of love through different lives #239

Raabta is a Romantic Drama released in the year 2017. Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon played the lead roles as Shiv and Saira.

The Story of Raabta:

Shiv, a Punjabi guy, got an opportunity to work in Budapest. A playboy, living in a different country made no difference to him. One day Shiv visited a chocolate shop with his foreign girlfriend and was blown away after meeting Saira, the owner of the shop. Like an absolute creep, he started following her back to her place.

Saira lived alone and used to wake up every morning from nightmares of drowning to death – memories of her parents’ car accident still haunting her sleep. She initially dismissed over-friendly Shiv but couldn’t deny the uncanny connection she felt with him; they ended up sleeping together! Shiv too felt this connection unlike any other fling he’d had before. He showed up at the restaurant where Saira went on a date with her boyfriend (yes, she had one!) and made them break up.

Saira was going with the flow. She didn’t feel any affection for the guy, so when they broke up it didn’t affect her at all. She was happy and carefree. Shiv and Kaira began living their best life together until one day Saira met a psychic who told her about her repeated nightmares and hinted that history might repeat itself soon.

At a party, Saira met Zack, a business man who was almost like her dream boy—the opposite of Shiv in many ways but with qualities she liked in general. Zack took an interest in Saira, and as soon as Shiv went on a business trip, he started taking advantage of the situation.

One day he mixed sedative in her drink, kidnapped her and took her to an island! When Saira woke up, she couldn’t believe her eyes… Zack wasn’t a nice dude after all, he was acting like a psychopath. He told her that they were meant to be together. In their past lives, they loved each other but were separated by destiny. He was looking for her everywhere and when he finally met her in the present life, he couldn’t take a chance and brought her to his place (of course as a captive!).

Zack showed Saira the painting he made before they met at a party. Their wedding was all over the news, and Shiv was astonished. Saira tried to escape but failed due to tight security. Then one day she jumped into the ocean and memories of her past life came flooding back—hundreds of years ago, she had been a warrior princess named Saiba and Zack (Kabir then) had been her childhood friend. When their kingdom was attacked by a rival tribe, Kabir was severely injured, so Saiba went to avenge him and ended up falling in love with their attacker Jilaan.

Kabir felt betrayed and lashed out on the night of Jilaan and Saiba’s wedding. He killed Jilaan in front of Saiba, who then took her own life. Brokenhearted, Kabir committed suicide too. Saira was determined not to let history repeat itself. When Zack captured Shiv and Saira, intending for Shiv to drown, Saira saved him. Shiva killed Zack in return. Finally, Shiva and Saira married and lived happily ever after.

My thoughts on Raabta:

I found the movie strange. I couldn’t understand how Shiv, a womanizer, settled for the love of his past life. Reincarnation is part of our religion, but meeting the same people over different lives is too specific.

Raabta means connection, the story justifies the name!

Zack kidnapping Saira and taking her captive in a castle on an island looked very familiar to me. I can’t think of a movie that has the exact same story, but this kidnap scene is uncannily similar. For example, the recent movie 365 Days also has this kind of portion where a mafia dude kidnaps a girl and forces her to live with him and fall in love with him. I think the idea of abducting women and forcing them to love you is common across entertainment industries worldwide! I really liked Shiv’s chocolate-boy look in this movie; however, Jilaan’s look didn’t make any sense to me.

The present life portion was OK and the past life segment didn’t go well because of the strange get-ups and way of talking, which I noticed as an audience. Deepika’s guest appearance in the song “Raabta” during Saira’s engagement with Zack felt unnecessary and out of place. The movie has some good songs too, like “Ik Vaari” and “Darasal,” which truly convey the love between Shiv and Saira. Sushant is a sweetheart, Kriti is a treat to the eyes—so if you’re into romantic movies, do watch it!

Note:
“Kai Po Che” (2013) was Sushant’s first film. He also starred in Shuddh Desi Romance(2013), PK(2014), Detective Byomkesh Bakshy(2015), M. S. Dhoni the untold story(2016), Raabta(2017), Kedarnath(2018), Drive, Sonchiriya, Chhichhore (2019) and Dil Bechara(2020). Dil Bechara is Sushant’s last film that released after his death.