Shuddh Desi Romance - Movie Review

Alright, the film about the youth's perception about romance and its add ons has finally arrived. The makers claimed that SDR is a contemporary take on the prevailing conceptions about love, lust, relationships and marriage. Interesting. 

Written by one of the finest contemporary writers, Jaideep Sahni. Very Interesting. 

One of the finest print media marketing campaign that I have seen for a Bollywood film since a long time. 3 relatively new faces and YRF backing. Can a director ask for more? 

Despite all the factors mentioned above, SDR is nothing but a SAD, DEGRADED and a RUBBISH portrayal of SHUDDH DESI ROMANCE. We have heard of Love at FIRST SIGHT; SDR basically tries to show MAKE OUT AT FIRST SIGHT! 

The story-line is wafer thin. the performances are cringe worthy and the dialogues induce sleep. Nothing works for this film because it is nowhere near reality. Its is a film that shouts out loud about being modern but ends up being extremely regressive! 

So we have a love triangle ( almost every YRF film has it ever since the legendary Chopra Sahab directed Daag), and even before the interval (they call it bathroom break) it is pretty obvious what is going to happen as we head towards the last reel. All the characters in the film are confused about life, love, sex, commitment and marriage and it is bizarre to know their fundas behind it. 

Sushant Singh Rajput plays the role of a tourist guide (Raghuram Sitaram) and also the role of a man whose character sketch is the most unbelievable you will come across for a long time. (He tries too hard to act like Ranveer Singh. But the natural SADAK CHAAP GIRI looked cool on Ranveer in BBB. Not this time Sushant!)

Low life and sleazy to the core, it is extremely tough to digest the fact that he gets two of the hot leading ladies with his charm! like seriously?? 

Our hero is confused about everything but takes himself very seriously! Give him a girl with hot looks and he will forget that he his on his way to his wedding and will make out with the girl in a bus full of NAKLI BARAATIS! What the hell. 

There is particular pattern in which he behaves-

LOOK CONFIDENT BUT CONFUSED AND PERPLEXED- WAGGLE EYEBROW-SMOOCH THE GIRL- SAY DIALOGUES WHICH MAKE NO SENSE- PROPOSE FOR MARRIAGE- RUN TOWARDS THE TOILET- RUN AWAY FROM THE WEDDING! 

He is supposed to marry Vaani, then goes on to romance Parineeti, goes back to Vaani and takes a U-Turn and comes back to Parineeti. Insaan hai ya Jaanwar.
He runs away from his wedding thrice. Why is he so commitment phobic is revealed only in the concluding dialogue of the film and trust me you would feel like slapping the writer for giving out such a retarded reason! 
His is a character which is zero on emotions and moral values. Cheap is the word. 

 And to all you tourists out there, do visit Jaipur, it is a beautiful city. Guides like Sushant don't exist anymore.

Smoking, swearing and making out at first sight on screen does not make you modern and brave! Someone please convey this to the writer and the director. If you want to see a heroine playing a brave and modern role, look at Waheeda Rehman in Guide. I can bet on it that it would take some balls to play a character like her even today! 

Parineeti smokes, swears, is not worried about her past and gets to get into bed with Sushant on their second encounter on screen. Woah! I never knew getting a girl was so damn easy! Her character is horny throughout the film! 

You have to believe that there is a TEZ WALA ATTRACTION between Sushant and Parineeti because if you dont, there will be no point in sitting through the track between the lead pair.. I kept searching for a scene which could establish this TEZ WALA ATTRACTION. Sadly I found none.

Vaani Kapoor plays her shabbily written character even more shabbily. The concept of WHAT- WHERE- WHEN-WHY-HOW is almost irrelevant to the makers for they can cover it up with some passionate make out scenes. Let us not get into the details of her character for there is none. 

Rishi Kapoor is brilliant and provides the necessary comic relief at regular intervals.

In an attempt to keep the dialogues as real as possible, the writer ends up serving a platter of gibberish, meaningless and disgraceful lines. There are a variety of YRF tracks that play in the background serving as the BACK-GROUND Score for the film. The music is extremely regular. Other technicals aspects match the YRF standards.

Manish Sharma who almost blew my mind away with an extremely entertaining and breezy Band Baaja Baraat dishes out a movie which does not posses a heart. I totally disagree with his portrayal of today's youth in the tier 2 cities. Yes people are commitment phobic and yes there is nothing wrong with live-in relationships but there is a certain way to show it! And please do some research before showcasing a Marwadi wedding scene. This is not how marriages take place, more so in Rajasthan.

Coming from a writer who has given gems like Chak de India, Company and Khosla ka Ghosla, Shuddh Desi Romance is neither SHUDDH, nor DESI and is far from being anywhere near ROMANCE. 

Making the characters smoke, make out, run away from weddings is not going to make the film brave or modern. 

Watch B.A Pass and you will know what bravery is. Watch Vicky Donor, Inkaar, Life in a Metro to understand what being modern and mature is.

Shuddh Desi Romance is utter nonsense. Call me a guy with the 1950's mindset but whatever I have seen in SDR is no where near my definition of being Modern and progressive. 

** -3 STARS**