Movie Review: 2 States

-         When Sambhar meets Tandoori chicken…

The movie starts with a Tam-Brahm (Alia Bhatt) and a Punjabi munda (Arjun Kapoor) falling in  love at the most sought-after and beautiful campus of IIM-A. Ananya (Alia) does not really have the Tam-Brahm qualities at first but gains them later in the movie somehow. Their romance dies a little as the movie progresses.

The movie begins when the love birds decide to get married only with the blessings of their parents. They try hard to impress each other’s parents. Ananya’s parents (Revathy and Shiv Subramaniam, well cast) accept Krish gradually but Krish’s parents (Amrita Singh and alcoholic and abusive Ronit Roy, well cast) take too long to accept. The problems between Arjun and his father are never clear. The difference between the two families and their cultures is depicted well. Arjun rightly says, “India mei pyaar aur shaadi ke beech mei 2-4 steps aur hotey hai.” Those 2-4 steps are surely portrayed well in the movie.

Krish tries hard to be accepted in the first half of the movie while Ananya tries the same in the second half. Ananya is always supportive of Krish’s desires and demands. A small misunderstanding, however, throws their relationship out of the place. But, all’s well that ends well when they get married in the end (like in all Bollywood movies).

This Bollywood style rom-com is packed with a bunch of talented actors, mesmerizing scores by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and amazing styling (Manish Malhotra, Shiraz Siddique, Natascha Charak and Nikita Mohanty). The movie does have a few sparkling scenes and a few high intensity emotional scenes. Also, the debutant director, Abhishek Varma, seems to have a knack for marriage proposals! I haven’t really read the book yet but I loved the movie. Book tickets for 2 States right away. The Blockbuster has arrived!