Star Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Janhvi Kapoor, Renji Panicker, Siddhartha Shankar, Manjot Singh, Sanjay Kapoor, Inayat Verma.
Director: Tushar Jalota
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What’s Bad: The script is unevenly paced.
Loo Break: A point or two in the second half.
Watch or Not?: I guess an overall yes!
Language: Hindi
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 136 Minutes
User Rating:
Param (Sidharth Malhotra) is an ambitious Delhi brat and the cause of his money-bag father (Sanjay Kapoor)’s woes. After his father refuses to waste more of his hard-earned money on his worthless ‘business’ endeavours, in a last-ditch attempt, Param decides to back an app designed by a man named Shekhar (Abhishek Banerjee) that will find the perfect soulmate for all.
His father, however, will back him this time only if the app works for the single Param himself! And so, Param enters his profile. The match found is Sundari (Janhvi Kapoor), who runs a homestay in far-off Kerala. Param, out of desperation to get his dad’s financial backing and become a bigwig himself, heads straight to Kerala along with his crony Juggi (Manjot Singh).
After interacting with Sundari, he falls head over heels in love with her. But there are multiple issues. Trouble looms even as the app designer vanishes and Param feels guilty of “using” Sundari, who has begun to reciprocate his love.
Gaurav Mishra, Aarsh Vora, and Tushar Jalota have written the script. The film is unevenly paced and could have been a crisp minus-2-hour watch instead of the present length of 136 minutes. There are parts that are clearly stretched, and the film moves from high to low to low to high—and so on.
The first 20 to 30 minutes or so in the Kerala section are thoroughly amusing and absolutely entertaining—Sundari’s introduction to the audience and Param, her exchanges with Param in her home, Param’s morning jog (hilarious!), and the parantha sequence with a Malayalam word that means the opposite of what one would think, all work well. The ring-and-elephant sequence is also a riveting watch.
The script then moves into the church sequence, which may attract brickbats as it could have been totally eschewed for something more logical, sensible, and wholesome. If a harmless scene in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 30 years ago raised hackles from a section of the community, I can well imagine what this one can, especially as it could have been easily modified in terms of the location. The writing there also leans towards the routine and the humdrum.
And then the tropes begin! Sundari tells her backstory, which shows that her dream is something totally different from hosting the homestay out of financial necessity. There is also a childhood friend, Venu (Siddhartha Shankar), who is—after innumerable movies since the 1990s and beyond—the wrong man in the right place.
Sundari’s self-sacrificing mode and Param’s obduracy in being open about his feelings all contribute to the film’s descent into routine, with an airport sequence adding to the stretched proceedings. All this leaves only the cultural differences between Kerala and Punjab as the novelty. Some specific situations and the very formulaic use of the character of a horny nurse also bring down the charm of what could have been a fresh drama.
That said, the end seems a bit abrupt overall, but it has elements of wackiness as well, like Param climbing a coconut tree for a reason. A couple of sequences, not really novel, work, like the way Sundari’s younger sister talks candidly with her about her life.
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Janhvi Kapoor is excellent yet again as Sundari. Her routine sequences also work because of her innate sincerity and charm, which is good because her characterization does not, in the final analysis, have much meat. Sidharth Malhotra has never looked better and is equally sincere as his heroine, but he could still have worked on the role instead of trying to be Shah Rukh Khan yet again!
That co-stars always affect your performance for the better or worse is proved yet again by the fact that Sidharth is least convincing in his scenes with Sanjay Kapoor as his dad. Kapoor is the biggest downer in this film, and he is clearly miscast. His expressions, dialogues, and body language expose his severe limitations as an actor, and one can only thank the writers that his role is quite brief!
Manjot Singh is effective as Param’s inseparable buddy, and Renji Panicker as Bhargavan Nair is very convincing. Siddhartha Shankar, as his son, Venu, is low-key but good. All the other actors playing Keralites impress, and so does Inayat Verma as Sundari’s sister.
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Director Tushar Jalota’s maiden effort shows his rawness in the pace and scripting (he is also one of the writers). He facilitates a great mounting, and Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran’s cinematography is magical. Manini Mishra and Sharanya Menon do a standout job of the production design, though Manish Pradhan’s editing could have been much better.
Sachin-Jigar’s music is alright, but has little shelf-value. Pardesiya, with its strong A.R. Rahman hangover, is the best track, followed by Chand Kaagaz. It is in these two songs and Sun Mere Yaar Ve that Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics stand tall.
If you are looking at a lighthearted two hours-plus of movie-watching, this one is for you. If it works at the box-office (as I suspect it will), it will bring back more of the ‘feel-good-romance-with-no-villains’ mush that we used to get in the decades gone by.
Three stars!
Param Sundari released on 29 August, 2025.
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