| Produced By | Aditya Chopra |
| Directed By | Maneesh Sharma |
| Music By | Jigar, Sachin |
| Starring | |
| Sushant Singh Rajput | Parineeti Chopra |
| Vani Kapoor | Rishi Kapoor |
PLOT SUMMARY
Essentially meant to be a light hearted Rom-Com set against the changing values in the middle class sub-urban Indian youth, the film revolves around pre-marital jitters of the hero Raghu, who on his way to his wedding venue meets Gayatri an open minded, free willed woman and decides to run away from his wedding. The two decide to enter into a live-in relationship and eventually decide to get married. However, on the wedding day, Gayatri runs out on him.
Enters Tara, who Raghu originally ran out on and the two get serious only to discover he is not really sure of marrying her either. Gayatri and Raghu meet again, decide to get married again and in the end both run away from their marriage to start living-in together.
MY TAKE
Do not form an opinion on the film by plot summary alone. This is not your typical romantic comedy that Bollywood has so effortlessly churned out one after the other, ever since DDLJ hit the silver screen. If you live by all what is filmy and are only turned on by glamorous stars gyrating to songs in chiffon sarees in snow clad Switzerland, this movie is not meant for you.
The first half is breezy and the lead couple is introduced well. The characters are etched nicely and the attention to details is praiseworthy, for example when Raghu and Gayatri wake up after spending the first night together, I could not help but notice that Raghu did not have a pillow under his head – just a sheet folded and pressed to serve as a pillow. The quirky humor is complimented by visible onscreen chemistry between the lead pair.
Sushant Singh does well as a nervous, confused and what I could say slightly emotionally unsteady character – a far cry from candy flossed, eternally romantic and ‘I will die for you’ protagonists. I do not find Parineeti Chopra as a beautiful visual delight but she more than makes up for it with her smirks and quips, smoking and all the eye rolling and slips into Gayatri’s character like hand in glove. She delightfully cites washing torn underwear for her man when confronting him with his lack of trust. Vani Kapoor does reasonably well in her supporting role but her mettle yet needs to be proven.
However, a special word needs to be put in for Rishi Kapoor for his sheer brilliance as the father figure in the movie. Bewildered at the proceedings his simplistic approach to the character of ‘Goel Sahib’ is beautifully executed. If he was menacing and invoked hatred for his character in Agneepath, he is all a joy to watch and keeps the movie alive, even when it gets sluggish in the second half.
To sum up, though not utterly honest and realistic itself but this movie is rustic enough to make you smile and realize that Indian values in the last decade are no longer same to what the Indian audience has been accustomed to of watching in TV serials and films. The movie breaks away from standard Bollywood cliches and is imaginative and fresh in its approach and thus keeps you entertained. The music, though no Grammy winner, has a decent score. ‘Chanchal Man – Ati Random’ in particular stands out. The second half could have been done a little crisper and the director should have tried keeping the narrative simpler but overall, ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’ as the name states, is definitely ‘Desi’ in its approach even if all the lip locking or mechanical kissing between the actors doesn’t leave it much ‘Shuddh’.
Overall a 3.5 out of 5 movie. Watch it for all the good hearty laughs it offers in its first half and for Rishi Kapoor alone.
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