Shuddh Desi Romance

Talented Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma's 'Shudh Desi Romance' depicts romance in a complicated yet funny way, that both, entertains & engrosses, at most parts, along-with Proficient Performances from its reliable cast.

'Shudh Desi Romance' is a story about the hair-raising minefield between love, attraction & commitment.

'Shudh Desi Romance' is light-hearted & progressive. The protagonist, a confused wreck of a guy, is an interesting person to follow in this journey. The women, on the other-hand, are as confused as the protagonist. But thats what makes 'Shudh Desi Romance' work, its the unlikeliness & the unpredictability of its characters that engages.

Jaideep Sahni's Screenplay is well-done & fast-moving. However, I found the final 25-minutes completely bland. Though it culminates with a mushy moment, the climax, other-wise, is not worthy enough of a much superior film. Maneesh Sharma's Direction is neat. He handles this Rom-Com with the right amount of confidence. Cinematography & Editing are good. Music by Sachin-Jigar is excellent.

Performance-Wise: Sushant Singh Rajput is highly competent. He portrays the confused hero with rare ease & understanding. Parineeti Chopra is flawless. What a splendid performer! Debutant Vaani Kapoor is endearing. Rishi Kapoor is fantastic, as always. The veteran is a delight to watch. Rajesh Sharma does well in a cameo.

On the whole, 'Shudh Desi Romance' is an experience worth watching.

For years Hindi movies have drilled the same conservative, and often regressive notions of love and marriage into our heads. Shuddh Desi Romance takes that conventional wisdom propagated to us in the movies and turns it on its head. What's worth noting is that this movie comes from the stable of Yash Raj Films, the very studio largely responsible for breeding those notions through hits like Chandni, Dil To Pagal Hai and Bachna Ae Haseeno among others.Directed by Band Baaja Baraat's Maneesh Sharma and written by Chak De India's Jaideep Sahni, Shuddh Desi Romance is set amidst the bustle of middle-class Jaipur, where unemployed youngsters will happily pose as friends and cousins in a traveling baraat for a few thousand rupees and a gold chain. When he isn't conning white tourists into buying handicrafts from local merchants for a commission, Raghu (Sushant Singh Rajput) is busy falling in love. But he goes from sincere to conflicted to selfish in as long as it takes most people to change out of a wedding suit. So he'll woo a girl, win her heart, then develop cold feet at the mandap. This happens thrice in Shuddh Desi Romance, which would be tiring and largely predictable if it weren't for Sahni's crackling dialogue and the charming characters he puts on screen. Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra) is a gregarious rebel Raghu meets on the way to his own wedding. She smokes, she's had boyfriends, and she lets Raghu move in with her when he ditches his shaadi. Tara (newcomer Vaani Kapoor) is the damsel who springs a surprise on both Raghu and the audience.Like most normal couples – hence, unlike the relationships we see in Hindi movies – sexual attraction is key to our protagonists' equation, and the film doesn't make a big deal about it. In fact, to give credit where it's due, Sahni's script never screams from the rooftops about the brave ideas it pushes so matter-of-factly. Skillfully avoiding melodrama or sloganeering, the film portrays a generation where single women can live in with their boyfriends without being banished by the housing society. This is a refreshingly real middle-class India where marriage needn't be life's sole ambition for young girls, and where women can hold their heads high and carry on with life despite having been ditched at the altar.There's so much to like about Shuddh Desi Romance, including Sharma's nicely textured portrait of the Pink City. The film captures the sights and sounds of a busy metro in ways that most films don't even try. Oblivious that he's ruined someone's appetite, a cook at a jalebi stall scratches his backside with a chhanni. It's little details like these that sparkle with originality.Pity then that the movie runs out of steam in its unconvincing final act, particularly during a confrontation between the two leading ladies that comes off as contrived. In other complaints, the talking-into-camera device is now overused, and seldom works unless what's being said is profound, which isn't always the case here. This in fact, adds to the film's already verbose and occasionally repetitive feel.What cannot be faulted, however, are the terrific performances from the central players. Vaani Kapoor makes an auspicious debut, carrying off Sahni's firecracker lines with the comfort of a pro. Sushant Singh Rajput as Raghu, has an easy charm about him and unmistakable depth behind that scruffy exterior. But it's Parineeti Chopra, reminiscent of a younger Rani Mukherjee, who this film belongs to. She has expressive eyes and an endearing manner about her, and turns Gayatri into the most real woman you've encountered on screen recently. The film also benefits enormously from the casting of an excellent Rishi Kapoor in the part of a feisty wedding caterer and Raghu's father figure.To a large extent, Shuddh Desi Romance reinvents the wheel as far as Bollywood rom-coms go. It's aggressively non-formulaic, and gives us characters who refuse to conform. The minor hiccups notwithstanding, this is a charming little film. I'm going with eight ratings. You'll enjoy it.

One word REALISTIC!!

This is such a charming,modern, progressive and refreshing rom com. It is quite unconventional from the other rom coms that we see and it is ironic it is from the yash raj banner. This movie portrays the mindset,dilemma or confusion of todays youth who are easy to enter into relationship but are scared as soon as they hear the word marriage. The sequences are very entertaining and the cinematography if jaipur is great. All the songs like gulabi,tere mere beech mein and title track are nice. The performances are amazing and all the actors aptly portray the confusion of the characters.

There is a new trend of attracting audience in which Bollywood movies are set in typical North Indian style like Band Baja Baraat , Fukrey , BA Pass. Shudh Desi Romance is set in Jaipur exploring the wedding culture and tradition.

Shudh Desi Romance is about wedding jitters , commitment , instant- attraction and live-in-relationship between 3 people - Raghu, Gayatri and Tara.

From the fun-filled Band Baja Baraat and mediocre Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, Maneesh Sharma presents you yet another love and attraction saga that explores the relationship and commitment. The story also challenges the mindset of Indian audience about accepting the live-in-relationship concept which is very much alive in society. The direction was good and few sequences were really remarkable. Apart from that, climax was unconvincing. It messed up so much that unnecessary extension of melodrama as to whom Raghu is going to get married will bore you. Screenplay falters and it goes down terribly. Editing could have been better. Art direction and cinematography is good. Music is mediocre. It is the performance of the film that should be lauded. Right from Sushant Singh , Pareenti Chopra , new bee Vandana Kapoor , veteran Rishi Kapoor were enthralling. It is difficult to highlight anyone in particular but Rishi Kapoor does it again. With age , he is re-inventing himself and that shows in the role he chooses. Overall , Shudh Desi Romance can be touted as one-time decent romantic complicated love triangle which had potential but turned out to be an average entertainment. Decent 2.5/5

Yes, the storyline is rather fidgety. But since when did we become so staunch about the storyline from movies under Yash Raj Films banner? Acting is above average, Rishi Kapoor tops the list, of course. No surprises there. The script is entertaining and funny. Well, more often than not.

But the 7 / 10 is mostly because of the statement or the point that this movie tried to make about marriages in India. And even amidst the inconsistency of the movie, there is enough food for thought for this generation and for the country as a whole.

As India slowly turns into an epitome of hypocrisy as a country, I have a feeling that this movie won't be acceptable by the average Indian audience though there is no sex or foreplay as such. But hey, curvy girls in bikinis running on the beach in some Salman Khan movie is just fine! As long as there is objectification.

There are however both sexual and non-sexual peeves (for the Indian audience) thrown all over the movie and I found them brilliant as well as hilarious. Go ahead, take your family to this movie. Make them a little uncomfortable and be a little uncomfortable as well. Monkeys make out, we do too. It's okay! For once, don't judge.

Bottomline: Definitely entertaining. Definitely funny. Yes, it is a little mindless and the story wanders off at times. But it's worth the watch!