Satyaprem Ki Katha

Karan Shrikant Sharma's story might seem clichéd but is unexpected land also progressive. Karan Shrikant Sharma's screenplay is neat and most importantly, sensitive. Karan Shrikant Sharma's dialogues also complement the script. A few dialogues are very funny while certain one-liners in the second half are sharp.

The partly problematic film that tries hard to be an entertainer even as it preaches righteousness ends up oversimplifying a serious issue and masking it while ending up neither here nor there. Kiara Advani and Kartik Aaryan’s chemistry reflects well on screen and Gajraj Rao as Aaryan’s father remains in his element. However, his portrayal comes off as another problem factor as in the first half; he provokes his son to go after the girl and charm her. However, when he learns about the rape, he worries about his reputation and blames the girl’s family for hiding the fact. Supriya Pathak Kapur is yet again at her Gujarati best as she portrays an overbearing matriarch who supports her daughter-in-law. The film could have elevated its plot by avoiding the dramatisation, simplification and Bollywoodification of a sensitive topic.

The treatment, which keeps teetering on the brink of melodrama, instantly dates it. After dishing out gyaan on how Katha needs to become the owner of her destiny, Sattu emerges as the hero who saves the heroine. More fools us for expecting anything else. The comedy add-on, by Rajpal Yadav, is dull and borderline distasteful. The close-ups are held on too long. And the explanatory dialogues keep wanting you to pat them on their heads for being so progressive. When a woman says no, she means no. Yes, absolutely, and it’s good that Bollywood is acknowledging it, but maybe the film needs to be less loud? How about some subtle notes, which may be far more effective? And no, the lilting notes of ‘Pasoori’, which comes late in the film, don’t help.