Param Sundari movie review: Bollywood’s Onam offering is an affront to all things Kerala

Param Sundari movie review: Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor unite for rom-com that's visually pleasing, but has no other redeemable factors

Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor in a still from Param Sundari song Sunn Mere Yaar Ve

Param Sundari movie story: Dilli-boy Param (Sidharth Malhotra) will not work for his rich dad, he’d rather focus on his pursuit of investing on the next start-up unicorn; even if that means burning up his father’s money on one failed idea after another. His latest and last-ditch effort is a dating app that promises users to find their soulmate, with 100% compatibility. Param is the test subject and is matched with, hold your horses, Thekkapetta, sorry Thekkepaatu Sundari Damodaran Pillai (Janhvi Kapoor), in far off Nangiarkulangara in Alappuzha.

Param Sundari movie review: The last time I heard the name Sundari, it was the neighbour’s pristine white and actually very beautiful cat. It’s not really a commonly used name for a Malayali woman since Gen X, at least. Hell, even Sundari's 'pet' elephant gets a better name - Rukmini. Suffice to say that like all Malayalis, I too took offence to Janhvi’s butchering of the name and the language as seen in the trailer. At least I wouldn’t have to ever subject myself to whatever else director Tushar Jalota had put together in this milan of 2 states. Or so I thought. Alas, in a cruel twist of fate, I was the one who had to take one for the team. Sigh!

Contrary to the social media debate about Janhvi’s casting in favour of opting for an actual Malayali actress, I don’t buy into that argument. I get why Tushar wanted ‘star’ power leading his rom-com; his target audience is above the Vindhyas and not true-blue Malayalis, with Kerala running through their veins. He is selling the idea of a state ready to embrace Onam to an audience that will be enamoured seeing elephants, kalarippayattu, Kathakali and more, all in one frame. And this audience would rather see Janhvi than, say, Keerthy Suresh, Anupama Parameswaran, or Nayanthara, all of who can speak Malayalam and have a following across the south. This is also the audience that will buy into his stereotype of the horny Mallu nurse.

But what really gets my goat is that they’ve made some effort to bring in a local flavour; roping in noted writer-director-actor Renji Panicker, Tanvi Ram and Anand Manmadhan. Only to then have Panicker’s fluent Malayalam be met with the gibberish Janhvi spouts and not have him flinch at the atrocity. Sundari’s kid sister’s only Malayalam vocab is reduced to calling her ‘chechi’. Tushar also needs a lesson in romance from Hemanth M Rao in how to use a simple cussword as a term of endearment. Mannunni, really? The question that arises is, what really was the need for this love story to be set in Kerala and give viewers the impression that everyone in God’s own country, including the local tea-shop owner, speaks fluent Hindi? Acche Din ka phal?

This would have been a lot more digestible if Sundari never really grew up in Kerala, but no, this is the pakka local the director imagined, who’ll not forget the jasmines in her hair even when rocking a crop top and skirt. Mullapoompodi Ettukidakkum Kallinumundamoru sourabhyam (The stone near the Jasmine will bear its fragrance too) is probably the logic here. Considering that Janhvi does speak a smattering of Tamil, ideally, this film should have been set in a small town in Tamil Nadu, but then, our brethren across the border have still not recovered from Chennai Express.

Also read: Param Sundari OTT partner revealed! Here's where you can stream Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor's rom-com after its theatrical run

For what it’s worth, Param Sundari has a good-looking lead pair with decent chemistry on board; the songs, even with the cringe google translate lyrics, are catchy, making the film a simple entertaining love story, that die-hard romantics can buy into. The comedy, if one can really call it that, has more misses than hits. The filmmaker kept the bar low on this one, which helps. For the subtitle-reading crowd, Janhvi’s Malayalam is no problem at all; but me, well, that’s a different story. The heart bleeds!

Param Sundari movie verdict: Param Sundari is the north-meets-south romance that no one asked for. Pleasing visuals with easy-on-the-eye actors is not a winning formula.

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