Art & Entertainment

Shuddh Desi Romance

Its int­­i­mate heart, the pros­aic nature of its love story and its song ’n-dance framing feels at odds

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Shuddh Desi Romance
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Starring: Parineeti Chopra, Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor, Vaani Kapoor
Directed by Maneesh Sharma
Rating: **

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There is a point in Shu­ddh Desi Romance where one of its two heroines talks about how romantic feelings, which have a way of tying you down also have a strange way of disappearing. Out of the blue. She talks of how it happened with her, how love just walked out of her heart and left her feeling free. Or yet again, how great it feels to be desired by a man who had once jilted her.

Similarly, the hero has his own take: on how love stays intact when it is not formalised, but the minute you put a lock on the door­—get married—things change, largely for the worse. It’s this—the easy articulation of feelings—which is the good thing about Shuddh Desi Romance. Dialogue that has a felt, lived quality, that makes it evident that the writer knows more than a thing or two about what he is saying.

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But sparkling lines don’t make the film work in its entirety. Perhaps because there is a saturation of such love stories in our films. Commitment phobia, marriage versus live-in, love against friendship is all compelling for a young audience but doesn’t have a fresh coating here.

Moreover, the film’s int­­i­mate heart, the pros­aic nature of its love story and its Bollywood song ’n-dance framing feels at odds. There are believable characters and dile­mmas here but hardly any interesting situations. And the whole hired baraatis element sticks out like a sore thumb. How regular can such a business be to sustain people’s lives? I could not suspend my disbelief.

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