Param Sundari brings Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor together for the first time on screen, and on paper it sounds like a charming rom-com. A Punjabi lad meets a Malayali girl, sparks are supposed to fly, and the film should glide on their chemistry. Sadly, that spark is what the film keeps promising but never really delivers.
The story is as old as the hills, only dressed up with a bit of dating app chatter and algorithm talk. Sidharth arrives in a Kerala homestay as a guest, but somewhere along the way the ‘guest’ angle vanishes and he suddenly becomes much more than that. The writing never quite decides where to take him. At 136 minutes, the film struggles to find both the rom and the com, only coming alive in its last half hour.
Sidharth, to be fair, looks good and does his job honestly. Janhvi, meanwhile, has been styled to look so perfectly beautiful that it tips into overkill. Her attempt at a Malayali accent shows effort but not ease, and it constantly reminds you she’s acting. Considering her South Indian roots, you expect a more natural feel, but it just does not land.
The supporting cast doesn’t fare much better. Manjot Singh, usually solid with his comic timing, feels wasted. Abhishek Banerjee, one of the most versatile actors we have, is criminally underused. Sanjay Kapoor’s appearance is puzzling. He turns up in a scene that feels straight out of DDLJ, like Anupam Kher arriving in Punjab to fetch Shah Rukh Khan. Renji Panicker and little Inayat Verma, as the cheeky younger sister, manage to steal a few moments, but they can’t rescue the flatness elsewhere.
Visually the film is bright and colourful. The cinematography captures Kerala’s beauty, its festivals and culture with flair, and that’s easily the strongest part of the film. The music by Sachin–Jigar doesn’t help much, with only ‘Pardesiya’ standing out from an otherwise forgettable soundtrack. The background score and direction are passable but nothing special.
For the record, this glossy package is produced by Dinesh Vijan for Maddock Films, directed by Tushar Jalota, written by Jalota, Gaurav Mishra and Aarsh Vora, shot by Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran, with music by Sachin–Jigar. The leads are Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor, supported by Manjot Singh, Siddhartha Shankar, Abhishek Banerjee, Renji Panicker, Sanjay Kapoor and Inayat Verma.
In the end, Param Sundari is exactly what happens when you take an overused love story, sprinkle in technology, throw in a few cultural stereotypes, and hope the audience won’t mind. It’s watchable, but far from memorable. You walk out remembering the colours, the landscapes and maybe the one catchy song, but little else. Dinesh Vijan may know how to market a film, but packaging alone can’t save content.
On the whole, it’s easy enough to sit through, but empty of the magic that makes you fall in love with a love story.
Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆ (2/5)
