Shuddh Desi Romance – A review (****)

An entire generation shares the predicament of Raghu and Gayatri, the cold footed lovers in Maneesh Sharma’s sparkling romcom ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’. They (sort of) love each other but the thought of marriage scares the shit out of them. This is the kind of film where a loo break acquires a symbolic meaning. You’ll see many of those here. This film has enough shots around the toilet to bring it on par with ‘Delhi Belly’.

Raghu (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra) have a vocation that I am informed exists in small towns. They rent themselves out as wedding guests. It’s the sort of profession that requires you to look attractive and speak some English so the family hiring them is perceived as, oh I don’t know, classier?

As the film opens, Raghu is all set to marry Tara (Vaani Kapoor). Since this is an arranged marriage set in Rajasthan, it comes as little surprise that Raghu has met Tara only once. Gayatri is hired as Raghu’s sister to accompany him to the wedding venue. Because Gayatri is played by the lovely Parineeti Chopra, Raghu’s wedding plans are quickly threatened. Sparks fly and, predictably, he runs off from the wedding.

 It isn’t long before Raghu and Gayatri are seeing each other. The scenes between Raghu and Gayatri are written with exceptional warmth and insight. Right from their first kiss to the point where both wonder if they can trust each other, Jaideep Sahni’s screenplay is completely believable and elegant. We sense that Raghu is a tad rash in their relationship, while Gayatri is more cautious. When confronted with the question of marriage, it becomes clear that they both have some way to go before they are sorted and have the correct perspective.

Through an amusing turn of events their relationship comes to a halt, setting Raghu up for a chance encounter with Tara. I liked the fact how in contrast to Gayatri, Tara is written as a more self-assured, wiser girl. She takes Raghu by surprise who may have thought that a woman prepared for an arranged marriage would be dull and conservative. He is smitten, but not to the point that he is over his first love you understand. We sense there may be some guilt over abandoning Tara that drives Raghu in this relationship and brings him once again to the cusp of proposing marriage.   

That is as far as I can get without spoiling anything for you. I will tell you though that this is a very funny film, where the humour flows naturally from the way the characters navigate their feelings and the situations it gets them in. I will also tell you that Raghu gets a lot of counselling from Goelji, a wedding planner, although some of it is suspect, motivated as it is by the prospect of organizing another wedding.

Goelji is played by Rishi Kapoor, whose flair for comedy shines through the constant befuddlement his character faces in confronting young love. The lead characters are also well cast, although the actor who looks the part the most is Vaani Kapoor, who makes a very confident debut here (Notice how she slumps into a chair and calls for a cold drink, after Raghu runs out on her). Sushant Singh Rajput’s performance as Raghu captures the evolution his character goes through in the film. And what a pleasure it is watching Parineeti Chopra. In only her second film as the female lead, she shows timing and range that is miles ahead of her contemporaries.

‘Shuddh Desi Romance’ is Jaideep Sahni’s eighth screenplay, having penned scripts like ‘Company’, ‘Chak De India’, ‘Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year’ and ‘Khosla ka Ghosla’. While he may have slightly tested the patience of his audience with characters who run around a lot before they figure stuff out, there is not a dull moment in this film. Like always, the ink from his pen runs deep. Eventually, Raghu is able to articulate his fear of marriage, likening it to locking the door behind you, killing the possibility of an exit. This is a truth about marriage, but not its point. ‘Marriage can be a lot of fun.’ said C.B. Samuel, a preacher I know who’s been married for more than 30 years. From what I saw of Raghu in this film, I’d say he’ll realize this someday.

Raanjhanaa - A Review (* * * *)

Aanand L. Rai’s ‘Raanjhanaa’ tells a story that is weaned on a close observation of small town romances. Consider the scene where Kundan (Dhanush) has a pivotal rendezvous with Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) at a fort. Great efforts were expended by Kundan to set up this meeting.  This includes stalking Zoya through most of his adolescence, pretending to be a Muslim, mustering the courage to tell her that he loves her and being snubbed 15 times. When Zoya does agree to meet him, he gifts her one of those musical greeting cards as a gesture of his love. I think the card plays ‘Unchained Melody’ when it opens but I can’t be sure. The scene is one of the many instances of sweetfaced innocence that leavens much of Himanshu Sharma’s screenplay.

Interestingly, Zoya shares her name with the lead female character in last year’s ‘Ishaqzaade’, another film that chronicled the tortured path an inter-religious relationship entails. But in ‘Raanjhanaa’ other elements enter the fray. Shocked by the possibilities of a romance with a Hindu boy, Zoya’s parents send her off to Aligarh and onwards to Delhi for further studies, where Zoya outgrows her adolescent love for Kundan and falls head over heels for an urbane student leader, played by Abhay Deol, who we shall call Akram. It is refreshing that Zoya’s attraction to Akram is not based on conventional Bollywood stereotypes of good looks and money. Zoya is inspired by Akram and is drawn to the possibility of being with a man who has ideologies, ambition and is remarkably self-assured.
 

Meanwhile, Kundan remains in love with his childhood sweetheart and resists the reality checks his friends Murari (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub) and Bindiya (Swara Bhaskar) try to force upon him. This turn of events is interesting because it calls upon us, the audience, to consider who we sympathize with. Do we sympathize with Kundan for staying on course with his love, although he shows a remarkable lack of direction in his life and shows that he may not be good at anything else but loving Zoya? Could we blame Zoya, having evolved from her small town upbringing to a modern outlook, for choosing to be with a man who she can truly identify with and who possibly loves her as much as Kundan?

There is a soft social commentary underlying the frolicky narrative of ‘Raanjhanaa’, which gives it more depth than we have any right to expect. Remember Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Rangeela’ and the improbable union between a film actress and a, well, vagrant with a heart of gold? ‘Raanjhana’ heads down a path that is more aware of the realities of its characters and the social divide India inhabits, albeit with a choppy and frenzied third act where Kundan becomes involved in political canvassing for the party that Akram started, all for Zoya.

While Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor and Abhay Deol are well cast in lead roles, this is clearly Dhanush’s film. It’s a clever casting ploy, even making room for his slightly dodgy accent by depicting him as the son of a tamil priest. Dhanush, as some would certainly know, is a big name down south. But the fact that he is virtually unknown to hindi cinema audience frees him from all the baggage of expectations that would have doubtlessly latched to a Bollywood A-lister and he acts with a remarkable lack of inhibition. He is a natural and I doubt if this film would have worked without him. In their supporting roles, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub and Swara Bhaskar are exceptional and bring a certain chemistry to the friendship between Kundan, Murari and Bindiya.

‘Raanjhanaa’ is Anand Rai’s second film after ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, which was also written by Himanshu Sharma and was also set in a town in UP. It represents an increasingly prevalent & productive creative movement towards stories that emerge outside urban centres and are rich in social themes. Its biggest folly might be romanticizing characters like Kundan who are fools and who perpetually keep a blade close to their wrists. But then you look back to Kundan dancing like a madman, dazed with love, in the middle of a busy Varanasi street and, suddenly, all is forgiven.