Shuddh Desi Romance
Year: 2013
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Cast: Sushant Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Vaani Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor

From its catchy title, young good-looking lead actors and contemporary ‘Live-in relationship’ theme, Shuddh Desi Romance promised to be an interesting film. Plus the director Maneesh Sharma hadn’t done too badly in the past, with a blockbuster Band Baaja Baraat and an entertaining Ladies Versus Ricky Behl in his kitty. So how did the film actually fare?

What’s the plot?

A young man (Sushant Rajput) is set to get married to a beautiful girl (Vani Kapoor) but while on the way to marriage, he gets attracted towards another smart and beautiful girl (Parineeti Chopra). Unsure of his feelings, he decides to run away from his arranged marriage and ends up in a live-in relationship with the second girl! But with confusion reigning in every heart of this romantic triangle (the guy, the jilted bride and the girl in the live-in relationship) will this love-story ever have smooth sailing? Or will running away from commitment (and from each other!) be the norm in this modern love-tale?

What’s hot?

·         Maneesh Sharma’s sure-footed direction manages to capture quirky complexities of contemporary romance with deft comic touches, using the colorful Rajasthani Jaipurian backdrop to great effect!

·         Interesting twists and turns in the plot; peppy dialogues and lots of kissing scenes!

·         Sushant Rajput, Parineeti Chopra and Vaani Kapoor – all of them deliver confident winsome performances.

·         Rishi Kapoor, playing the lone voice of experience, tradition and wisdom, once again proves what a master performer he is!

·         The songs are catchy.

What’s not?

·         The second half is slow.

·         The climax feels gimmicky.

·         The theme almost tries to promote live-in relationships over traditional marriages!

Verdict

A free advice for the traditionalists and moralists. This film is surely going to take them into the ‘Tut- tut’ mode. So they should better avoid it. But for others just watching movies for fun, it is an enjoyable, entertaining rom-com offering an insight into today’s desi youth’s confused mentality over love, marriage and long-term commitment!

Rating

3 stars