Shuddh Desi Romance Review

One Line Review: A "chanchal" and "gulabi" love tale with an exquisite theme oozing comic punches with perky dialogues.

Positive Points: Crunchy story, Good direction, Stunning character performances, Wonderful Jaipur locales, Outstanding music with standout lyrics.

Negative Points: Dragged storyline.

Plot: Raghuram Sitaram (Sushant Singh Rajput) is a boy-next-door living in the scenic Jaipur city. He lives alone and works in a clothing outlet. Raghu also dances in weddings as a 'baraati' on a hire. When it comes to love, Raghu turns a perennially commitment-phobic person. Somehow, Raghu's marriage gets fixed along with a beautiful girl called Tara (Vaani Kapoor). On the very last minute, Raghu badly escapes from the wedding venue with the dilemma in his mind about whether he can settle with a girl, whom he does not know personally at all. Applying this defense mechanism lands him to meet bold beauty Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra). And then starts budding an ultra-modern love story between Raghu and Gayatri, in which they create their own fantasy world. Both these lovebirds begin their live-in relationship in a cluttered apartment and plans to tie the knot after spending quality time with each other. But, the destiny intervenes and as per the saying " As you sow, so shall you rip", a big shock awaits for Raghu. His to-be-bride, Gayatri suddenly disappears from the 'mandap' inviting an emotional turmoil for Raghu. At a weird moment, the fate once again brings Raghu in front of Tara and the tale changes the track in a 'desi' way.

Direction And Other Technical Aspects: The director Maneesh Sharma has attempted to touch a fragile topic of live-in relationships, which is still labeled as a taboo subject in the Indian context. With this movie, the director had glamorized the controversial and forbidden subject of live-in relationships in a Bollywood style. Sharma has certainly come up with an interesting take on contemporary relationships, in which making and breaking relations with anyone is not considered as a big deal. The strikingly fearless approach towards life and carelessness against society's rigid rules seems quite refreshing and revolutionary. The film raises a question against the concept of marriage as a forced institution in our nation, which we see today in loads of circumstances. As we see, in India, the department of marriage is mostly controlled by the elders in the family.

The director had fleshed out the characters with ample insecurities and they look altar-phobic as the restless souls while dealing with their love life. The protagonist in this film is not depicted as rich and cramped with sweet talks making a way for a swanky affair, rather he ventilates his real feelings and does not offer a dose of excessively sweetened romance. The film does not compel on an emblematic happy ending like wedding, like the other films and this is what makes the film exclusive. It contains fights between the characters, but it also evokes warmth somewhere. This is something really worth praise. The movie presents a good direction, however it would have been better if the story would have cut short a bit at the end to retain the strength of the concept. In simple words, it is all about make up and break up, which is the funda of today's youth in terms of relations. Although the story does not ooze a specific social message, it is a must-watch for the sake of pure entertainment.

The other reason for this film to be a watchful for includes the adherence of the characters to their own point of views, no matter what the situation throws at you. The film blooms in a 'shuddh desi' heartland of Jaipur and the excellent cinematography endows an extra edge to this flick. The movie had wonderfully captured the essence of pink Jaipur, making the film a visual delight. The impressive art direction and good background score also take the film to the next level.

Performance: Sushant Singh Rajput had attested himself as the next big thing in Bollywood, with his amazing acting skills. Sushant flaunts a boyish charm and goes under the skin of Raghu very convincingly. Parineeti Chopra shines well while essaying a rough and tough Gayatri with 'bindaas' personality warning everyone to not to mess with her.

The newbie Vaani Kapoor presents her character Tara with full confidence visible in her body language as well as in her dialogue delivery and facial expressions. She makes us forget that this is her first film, with her flawless acting talent. The veteran star Rishi Kapoor still exhibits the golden charm, as he dons a modern get-up and make the viewers laugh with his perfect comic timing. The other star-cast play their respective roles in a great manner.

Music: As the film deals with a bold theme and is set in Pink city Jaipur, the music composer duo Sachin-Jigar has painted the romantic songs in pink. The music tracks like "Tere Mere Beech Mein" and "Chanchal Mann Ati Random" serve one with standout lyrics and foot-tapping tune. While, the soft and romantic song "Gulabi" is a real visual treat showcasing beautiful Jaipur local spots. The title track "Shuddh Desi Romance" that features at the end of the film makes a colourful ending.

Final Verdict: As the movie spins around a never-seen-before concept and is studded with fresh stars, it can be definitely a crowd-puller. A lighthearted entertainment especially for the youngsters. The film steals the thunder with its crunchy dialogues, like "Tezz wala attraction" and "Mere Boyfriend Banoge?" It is certainly worth watch for stunning performances by Parineeti Chopra and Vaani Kapoor.