Riding on the
success of 'Band Baaja
Baaraat' and 'Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl', Maneesh Sharma mixes up
both the themes with 'Shuddh Desi Romance'. There is a bit on
weddings, in-your-face dialog from his first film and the angle of
multiple women from the second. But, unlike his first two films, lead
character here, Raghu (Sushant Singh Rajput) is an under confident,
self-doubting and is mostly an aimless guy.
The film beings
with Raghu's baaraat (groom's wedding procession) as he is set to
marry Tara (Vaani Kapoor). With no real family around, Raghu dabbles with being
a paid baaraati for the wedding planner Goyal (Rishi Kapoor) who is
his mentor of sorts. During the off season for weddings, he doubles up as a
tourist guide in Jaipur.
Included in the
fake retinue is Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra) whom Goyal masquerades as the
protagonist's sister. Enroute, she and Raghu discover that they have a deeper
connect for each other and end up kissing, one of the many kisses in the
film. Consequently, Raghu abandons his wedding after excusing himself
for a loo break.
Thereafter, Raghu starts
living with Gayatri, pretending to the world that they are related as
siblings, while actually being in a live-in relationship. Gayatri is
portrayed as a cigarette smoking girl, who had an abortion from one of her
many relationships.
Just as Raghu and
Gayatri think of marriage, in come the toilets. Thereafter, Tara
enters, complicating the mix and confusing Raghu into a choice between
two women. What happens to each of these characters in the triangle
forms the rest of the story, which attempts to put its best foot forward to making
things comical.
The end result
however is underwhelming. The best of 'Shuddh Desi Romance' is in
its first half, with many humorous situations and funny lines. The
characters too are endearing and there are no villains. But where the
writing fails is when it doesn't bring about a connect with either of
the characters or let you empathise with any.
For actor Sushant
Singh Rajput, this role is markedly different from the passionate coach
that he played in 'Kai Po Che' and does a good job as someone finding
it difficult to commit. Parineet Chopra faced the prospect of
competition from her cousin Priyanka's remade 'Zanjeer' releasing on
the same weekend. However, 'Shuddh Desi Romance' seems to have won the initial
battle at the box office.
Among the other
actors, Vaani Kapoor, a model turned actress is impressive as the smart,
uber confident girl who conveniently plays with simpleton Raghu. And by
now, we seem to have gotten used to seeing Rishi Kapoor play the father/ uncle/
mentor role played to perfection. The other supporting cast, portrayed
among his friends and baaraatis bring in the much needed comic relief
to the film.
So, why does the
small -town trend work? Most of the Indian populace still lives in smaller
cities and towns. Even among the metropolitan city dwellers, a significant
number of them are migrants from towns or are, at best, second
generation city folk. While the appearances may have changed, many of us in
India still retain a 'desi' flavor. On top of it all, it is they who
bring in the bucks for movies and malls.
Verdict: Despite its promise, the film fails to
impress as the plot gets derailed mid-way and so does its comedy.
The film's lead women are deliciously written for cinematic charm rather than
to reflect anything real. The most unpardonable of the plot blunders
are the seemingly endless trips to the toilet, a hallowed venue for
intense reflection on life's big decisions! Seriously, the movie could've been
so much better.
Rating 4/10: Like a trip to the loo with humor
& romance thrown in
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