Dec 24, 2024 04:50 PM IST
The next big Bollywood romcom is out for delivery. Fans do feel the nostalgia but Janhvi Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra don’t make for very promising fronts
Who doesn’t miss the good old days of Bollywood’s peak romcom era. Humble, albeit regurgitated plots, colorfully shot songs and the previous generation of A-listers in the making — the perfect recipe for a cozy evening at the movies. Things on the film front however, have seriously caught up in pace since then. Currently Bollywood is in it’s ‘pan-India’, massy but stylised action-core era, as it attempts to aesthetically borrow from the favour of the South Indian film industries.
Looking at the current situation then, the first look of Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor’s Param Sundari sure has managed to get that note of nostalgia right. Their introductory posters as well the official first look properly looks like a time travel back to the last decade. But that’s about it when it comes to the first rush of the internet’s verdict. The vibes are giving Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s Chennai Express (2013) with a side of some of Alia Bhatt’s aesthetic from 2 States (2014) and fans aren’t feeling too hot about it.
With both Sid and Janhvi not exactly being known for particularly strong acting chops, people are expecting the worst “Par idhar acting kaun karega?” read a comment, a hilarious response to which was “Supporting cast”. The thread hilariously added, “1 pankaj tripathi , 1 shefali shah parcel”.
There was also rampant concern over a generalised representation of ‘South ki sundari’, which is literally how Janhvi has been introduced: “Whom are they gonna butcher now Tamils or Mallus”, “Janhvi will be wearing kerala saree and speaking Telugu and eating tamil food”, “Entire South is same for Bollywood”.
And we don’t really need to point out the very direct reference lifted out of SRK and Deepika’s Chennai Express: “This poster reminded me of Chennai express deepika SRK 👀”, “Another stereotypical 2 states romance which will give the female protagonist a weird and unnatural accent” and “(2 states x Chennai Express) + Bad Acting” read a few comments.
Finally, the number of references to Kriti Sanon, who was introduced to the Param Sundari track in Mimi (2021), which eventually even won her her first National Award, were too many to count.
Produced by Maddock Films and directed by Tushar Jalota, Param Sundari is set for a July 25, 2025 release.
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