An App that finds the perfect soulmate for anyone: something like this can revolutionize the world and make a fortune for its designer. A man named Shekhar (Abhishek Banerjee) designs something like this, and tempts our hero, Param (Sidharth Malhotra) into investing a fortune in it.
But Param’s long-suffering dad (from all of Param’s ambitious but harebrained moneymaking schemes) will no longer be conned by his son. The tycoon, Parmeet Sachdev (Sanjay Kapoor) will now invest in it only if it is proven that it works, And so Param must search (within a week) for his own soulmate on the App! If he does succeed, dad will give him the sum.
Desperate to get the money and becoming a success at something, Param opts to download his profile on the App and soon discovers that the soulmate is a homestay owner in far-off Kerala: a girl whose name is Sundari (Janhvi Kapoor). She teaches Mohini Attam on the side, and has a sister, Ammu (Inayat Verma). Unofficially (as in verbally), however, she is betrothed to childhood friend Venu (Siddhartha Shankar), the son of Bhargavan Nair (Renji Panicker), a kind of a village head. Venu is at present away. But Param does not know all this.
Param reaches Kerala and sees and interacts (as houseguest) with Sundari. He is besotted by her soon enough, but keeps his feelings to himself. Slowly, Param and Sundari come close and both feel something for each other. In between there are several issues happening—Venu reappears and while Sundari is now confused, Param feels guilty and feels that he is “using” Sundari emotionally. And then something happens with respect to the App as well!
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The story is a mix of the over-familiar and the fresh. However, director Tushar Jalota and his co-writers (he is one of them too) definitely have a raw touch to their work. The wrong man in the right place formula has been used in love triangles from the 1990s, and this wrong man is often the goody-goody one (from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to the recent Ankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan) and so is the case here.
The sequence where the younger sister drills sense into Sundari, which however proves short-lived, and the airport sequence with a difference from many such earlier pre-climaxes are two more concessions to formulaic storytelling devices. In the final analysis, in this modern-day throwback-to-Chennai Express-with-a-deviation, the only novelties are the exposure to the cultural exhibitions of the region, with some riveting sequences like that of the ring and the pet elephant, Param’s first morning jog, the parantha sequence and the two occasions where the lead pair climb a tall coconut tree, each for a valid reason!
It is these few fresh drops in this bottle of old wine that makes the final viewing pleasant and relaxed, though personally, I found the prolonged church scenes not very wholesome in that background. That said, the end is also quite quirky and even whacky.
A major plus here is the lead pair. Sidharth Malhotra has never looked better, and acts with care, though he should have curtailed his wannabe-Shah Rukh Khan habit of his earlier films, that seems to have returned with a feel-good drama genre that is familiar fare for SRK even beyond Chennai Express and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Janhvi Kapoor again shows her solid bankable prowess in what is essentially a good but not really meaty role. She is especially standout in the first 30 minutes where she is interacting as a homestay owner with Param. As a pair, thri chemistry is terrific.
Param’s inseparable associate is essayed by another reliable performer, Manjot Singh. Siddhartha Shankar as Venu is competent within his character’s limitations, but Inayat Verma as Ammu and Renji Panicker as Bhargavan Nair are very effective. Abhishk Banerjee does not have much to do, but the other actors portraying Keralites, including the ladies, are impressive.
That brings me to the sore thumb: Sanjay Kapoor as Parmeet is supremely miscast and disappoints big time with his mediocre hamming. This is where a truly accomplished actor, like maybe Varun Badola or Sharad Kelkar, would have worked wonders.
The cinematography by Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran (doubling up in a shopkeeper’s cameo) is brilliant and picturesque while Manini Mishra and Sharanya Menon do a fantastic job of the production design. Manish Pradhan’s editing could have been improved the film had he scissored out at least 20 minutes from the 136-minute movie whose graph moves from high to low and back many a time.
Sachin-Jigar’s songs, while lacking a long shelf-life, mostly go well with the flow of the film, and the lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya also shine especially in Pardesiya, Sun mere yaar ve and Chand kaagaz. The duo’s background score is effective, though I felt that the thematic riff could have been less utilized.
A passable one-time watch, the film does rise slightly above the average because of the terrific chemistry between the lead pair. And I would like to see more of Sidharth and Janhvi as a team.
Rating: ***
Maddock Films’ Param Sundari Produced by: Dinesh Vijan Directed by: Tushar Jalota Written by: Gaurav Mishra, Aarsh Vora & Tushar Jalota Music: Sachin-Jigar Starring: Sidharth Malhotra, Janhvi Kapoor, Renji Panicker, Siddhartha Shankar, Manjot Singh, Sanjay Kapoor, Inayat Verma, Gopika Manjusha, Tanvi Ram, Chacko CL, Divija Gambhir & others Sp. App: Abhishek Banerjee