Shuddh Desi Romance (2013)

A romantic comedy which tells the journey of three restless young people who junk society's syllabus for finding love and decide to follow their heart.

Director:

Maneesh Sharma

Writer:

Jaideep Sahni

Stars:

Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Rishi Kapoor

6 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sushant Singh Rajput	...	Raghu
Parineeti Chopra	...	Gayatri
Vaani Kapoor	...	Tara
Rishi Kapoor	...	Goyal / Tauji
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Imtiaz Ahmad	...	Bride's Electrician Boy Friend
Bhuvan Arora	...	Raghu's Friend 1
Ankush Bali	...	Boy from Bride's Side 2
Ramakant Dayama	...	Mamaji
Aman Dhanwani	...	Little Boy
Alex Gabriel	...	Tourist 2
Mahesh Ginnilal	...	Bus Conductor
Priyanka Jain	...	Tara's Friend 1
Pratik Jaiswal	...	Raghu's Friend 3
Jasbir Jassi	...	Paanwaala
Banwari Jhol	...	Pandit

Storyline

Shuddh Desi Romance is the journey of three restless young people who junk the society's syllabus for finding love and decide to follow their heart. Raghu (Sushant Singh Rajput), a tourist guide in Jaipur, wants a love in his life, and that's it. The rest he's going to figure out along the way. Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra), a part-time instructor in an English speaking institute, has been around the block a few times and knows the scene, warts and all. Tara (Vaani Kapoor), who's dying to get out there and fly, knows what's right for her, but a little experimenting never hurt anybody, did it? When their lives crisscross, their beliefs get challenged, and their loves, tested. We all want it all...the love, the attraction, the relationship, the commitment. But when we get it, it may not be in the way we recognise.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

6 September 2013 (India)

Also Known As:

A Random Desi Romance

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yash Raj Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shahid Kapoor was roped in to play the lead role, but quit before filming began.

User Reviews

Confused Hollow Romance

This is a movie that unwittingly exemplifies Shakespeare's quote "What's in a Name?". For the movie has nothing to do with it's name which means "Pure Traditional Romance".

The length and breadth of small town Indian cities are beautifully captured by the cinematographer and Director of Photography, yes but the path traversed by the central characters is anything but pure - but more of that later. Neither is this a romantic film, unless of course you think of hardcore lust and hormonal desires as romance. I don't. Period. And finally, the only thing traditional about the characters are their names "Raghupati Rajaram", "Gayatri", "Tara" etc.

Talking of tradition, films are either a reflection of society, or a mirror to society. The mostly one dimensional and shallow characters ensures the mirror is cracked from side to side, and even if for a moment, you think of the things being shown in the movie about small towns, to be a reflection of society, let me request you to get in touch with an ophthalmologist.

In this film Sushant Singh Rajput (and many others around him) at numerous places refer to Parineeti Chopra as a sister/elder sister, etc and yet indulges in a no holds barred live in relationship with her. Characters run away from their own marriage multiple times - in fact repeating their same actions over and over again. Even minor characters are unnecessarily shown to indulge in confused sexual flings with random strangers and that too in their wedding trousseau! All this to try and showcase "Live In Relationships" to be the future alternative to marriages in India. Even children are not spared and hinted at being just as confused about marriage!

A girl left high and dry at her own wedding surprisingly once again enters the life of her once husband to be (after a calculated absence of course!) and then gets into a sexual relationship with him, for the flimsiest of reasons! All the while, his heart - sorry - libido - still beats for the girl he once left at their wedding, oops! sorry! I mean the girl who left him at their wedding! No wait! the girl who he thought was someone else, but realizes is like the girl who he thought she was never like who he met at what was to be his wedding! Trust me - even I am confused! Equally confused it appears to be are the girls themselves. They are strangely never jealous of each other, often behaving like a much in love mother and daughter, or even soul sisters for reasons impossible to fathom while indulging in bane banter and sipping Coca Colas!

At a time when it looks like we are about to finally witness a Bollywood film showing a 'menage-a-troys', one of the heroines walk out of the twisted relationship making way for the rest to decide to get married, only to once again, run away from each other. The film ends with two of the three characters using closed doors as a metaphor for marriage and deciding to stay happily ever after with the doors carelessly open. An open relationship anyone? Go figure!

This is a story that could have unfolded with passion playing out like a roost of chickens to some well placed grain. Yet, strangely, in spite of numerous kisses (27-35, I really stopped counting every time someone was near a filthy toilet), this film has hardly done justice to what could have otherwise been a blockbuster script. Trust me - if this script finds its way to a maker of x-rated films, "Deep Throat" would no longer be able to hold its sway as the greatest x-rated movie of all time.

Talking of which, time and again the reasons provided for the characters to exhibit their odd idiosyncrasies are mostly pathetic and defies logic causing some really good performances by Sushant (good, though often confusing), Parineeti (excellent and uninhibited), Rishi Kapoor (superb and sane), and Vaani (a debut that shows glimpses of talent despite a paper thin characterization) to be as wasted as its beautiful musical score and realistic witty dialogs. A classic case of rhyme without reason leading to the viewer in me screaming treason.

In short this is an extraordinary film, because ordinarily, the director and writer have exhibited much better talent earlier (writer - Chak De India, Director - Band Baaja Baraat). If you think of this film as a perfect romantic film to watch with your special someone, prepare to have your senses assaulted. If you are planing to watch this film with your family, prepare to get embarrassed beyond relief. If you wish to watch this film with a group of friends or colleagues, prepare to get set for some unnecessary debates.

This is the perfect example of what overconfidence can do to a bundle of talent and the lack of a cohesive script. Please do yourselves a favor and watch a Sunny Leone film instead.