Rom coms are the order of the day, and it has been since quite a long time now, from the bubbly romances like Pillow Talk to When Harry Met Sally, these movies have given us an idea of romance that is not very removed from real life, and we often quote these movies, literally and metaphorically, I know I have to good, dramatic effect. Of course you can always widen your horizons and watch La Dolce Vita or Breathless, the pinnacle of French and Italian cinema in the mid 20th century, which of course involved a poseur element but then isn’t everything a pose, especially in romance?
India did its fair share of romance comedies, especially the Hrishikesh Mukherjee ones like Chupke Chupke, Golmaal and it often comes off as surprising from the man who often made movies seeped in pathos like Satyakama, a neglected classic of cinema and a movie close to the heart of the maker. It is useless to stir up the debate of whether the movies perform better or the movies, for statistics and public opinion wise, both are exceptional performers.
Red White and Royal Blue brings two upcoming fresh faced, charismatic performers, Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, who play royalty, although one is one actual royalty and the other happens to be the son of the President, political royalty much? They initially are at the throats of each other, literally speaking here and when they grapple in full public view, they topple a mesmerizingly colossal cake, to much public consternation and scandal. The romance begins from that point, when they start seeing a lot of each other, which assumes substance at the classic line- I like my coffee like my women, I don’t like coffee, which finally reveals the true idea of the love that is about to blossom. One scene involves them being stuck in a closet together, which plays on the idea of same sex love stories, where the protagonists overcome the emotions of embarrassment, worrying only to become the best versions of themselves.
Without giving away too much, fans of the book and rom-com genre, go watch, it is now streaming on Amazon Prime.