Kartik Aryan Shines In A Thundrous Tale Of True Love

Satyaprem  Ki  Katha

Rating: ****

You  get the sneaky feeling that the protagonists are  called Satyaprem  and Katha so  that the film would get its  catchy title. Like Akash Vani.Yes, that  too starred Kartik in one of his  less  frivolous(read:  Bhoola Bhulaiya 2,  Shehzada) roles.

As Satyaprem,  aka Sattu, Kartik Aryan brings to  the  Gujarati  wastrel’s part both innocence and heart.Satttu is  at  once  endearing and annoying. His  motives for marrying the  dishy dandiya wali Katha is  all wrong. But heck, this goofy guy knows  about True Love; how  many youngsters today can claim the same?

Sattu’s Gujju love story, or Amour In Ahmedabad if you will, has a peculiar  rhythm to it. He wooes a girl way too classy and beautiful for him.But wins her in  no time. Like Aishwarya  Rai   in Sanjay Bhansali’s  Hum…De Chuke Sanam, Katha won’t let her husband sleep with her , ostensibly for his  sleeping habits…you know, Saawan ka mahina Sattu kare snore….

But there is  more.

Katha has  a deep dark secret which she  refuses to share with her  exceptionally  supportive  husband. Ridiculously enough, when she  does  open up  about her secret she  does so before her  husband’s family.Katha’s father threatens to slash his wrist with a blade.If only he had  carried out his  threat we would be spared  a shamefully regressive father  who believes  a tainted daughter  is better dead.

Of course  all hell…or may all  yell…breaks  loose. Why do Gujarati families  always have  to be  so loud and bantering? And Goodness, the singing and dancing!!! This  dandiya-and-dhokla formula  gets in the way of a seriously beautiful love story between a wastrel and a  waif played with  elegance  and restrain by Kartik Aaryan and  Kiara Advani who quite  comfortably churn  out their career’s best  performances  in a film that keeps shooting itself in the foot by interrupting the central romance with  songs dances and parental interventions.

The ‘dude’ raport between  Sattu and his father(Garjraj Rao) never  quite makes it to  a meaningful  relationship. And the less said  about  Supriya Pathak’s ‘Diwali’(she has a siste rnamed Christmas, I kid you not) the better.

Speaking of dude, what is Rajpal Yadav doing in  the film as a doodhwala? Why is he around? What is his  function in the plot? Is  he the comic relief? Seriously? After the  entire  supporting cast insists on doing a  comedy circus?

What works, and works wonderfully, is the  crackling chemistry between the lead  pair. Kiara and Kartik  look more made-for-each-other than  Kiara and  Siddharth Malhotra in Shershah. Director  Sameer Widhwans  shoots their “asexual” romantic scenes with a sensitivity and suppleness  that are rare in Hindi cinema.

This film is  a new beginning for  both  Kiara and Kartik. They shine in the emotional scenes, maybe a little more than expected, as the supporting cast is  woefully sketchy.If only Widhwans had stuck  to the central story of a  vagrant who finds  an anchor in  his commitment to that thing called  love.