'Param Sundari' Review: A Kerala tourism brochure done wrong

The harmless trailer of Param Sundari had surprisingly created a social media-led furore with a section of Keralites taking umbrage over alleged stereotypical portrayals of Malayalis. A deluge of reels and posts calling out the underwhelming accent by Janhvi Kapoor and the archetypal shots of Kerala had resulted in both, funny videos as well as thoughtful discussions about representation. It’s hard to remember the last time a feel-good romcom generated such intense sociological debates.  

Yet, when you watch a film, you tune into the proceedings with hope. Perhaps, the content would be better than the packaging. Perhaps, people were overreacting over a 2.5-minute preview. Perhaps, the movie deserves a chance. Perhaps, the screenplay would surprise us with its smart writing despite formulaic tropes.

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But after 2 hours and 30 minutes of watching the Sidharth Malhotra-Janhvi Kapoor starrer, my verdict is ready: the trailers didn’t lie. The content creators weren’t wrong. And the debates weren’t futile. For truth be told, Bollywood just doesn’t get representation right! It doesn’t get the difference between caricatures and stereotypes. It doesn’t know how to tell a simple story well. And most certainly, it does not know South India, let alone Kerala at all.  

Param Sundari looks like an output from an eighth grader who’s been asked to write an essay on ‘10 things to know about Kerala’. 96 per cent literacy, Kathakali, Mohiniattam, toddy, coconut trees, Sadya, backwaters, boat race, Onam and mundu — all these elements have been spread liberally over a wafer-thin plot in the hope of creating a sparkling cross-cultural romance. There is even a micro-second shot of men with red flags walking on the streets, a nod to the state’s love for communism. Alas! The end result is so banal and the depictions so superficial that your palm will find itself going to your face throughout its run time. Is it offensive? No, not at all. Silly? Well. 

Param Sachdev (Sidharth) is a charming Delhi ka munda with a sigh-inducing six pack who goes to Nangiarkulangara in Alappuzha district in Kerala (thankfully such a place exists, the makers got that right!) in search of a girl who has been matched by an app as his soulmate. The lady in question is the (now infamous) Theykkapetta Sundari Damodaran Pillai (Janhvi) running a homestay that was seen in the 2017 Saif Ali Khan starrer Chef.  Despite initial skirmishes and token cultural clashes, the sparks dutifully fly, opposites attract and Param and Sundari’s love staggers towards a perfect ending amid some needless chaos, a dumbstruck fiance, a clueless uncle (veteran Malayalam actor Renji Panicker), random street brawls and a half-baked backstory.  

Romances are having their moment in Bollywood and we are all for it. Violins playing softly when boy meets girl, the moony-eyed looks, dancing in the rains… these stock devices never go out of fashion. Saiyaara’s super success proved that even a predictable weepie can click with the audiences if there is conviction in the storytelling. With romantic comedies, the ask is even less. You don’t need plot twists, surprises and deep layered messages. All that audiences are signing up for is a good time at the movies with a stress-free watch and protagonists that make you fall in love.  

One can imagine the memo when Param Sundari was conceived: make a fun yet heartfelt inter-state love story that pokes fun at the cultural ignorance within the country. The characters are linear and simple and the conflict point is also very basic: cultural differences. But when you spotlight diversity, the least one expects is a genuine deep dive into a culture rather than a shallow skim.

Unfortunately, Param Sundari hovers between average and below average on almost all these counts, getting even the very basics of Kerala food, expressions and slang wrong. Come on Bollywood, nobody gives directions in Kerala asking people to turn left or right from a coconut tree! Kathakali dancers don’t just roam casually in their outfits near temples and it is puttu and kadala curry not puttum kadalayum!  

Undoubtedly, the film is very pretty. Sidharth has never been filmed this handsome and Janhvi, despite the inaccurate styling, is stunning. Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran’s camera presents Kerala in its touristy wonder rather than a lived-in real place but even those can be forgiven. What can’t be, are the cliches. 

Janhvi’s Sundari is the biggest culprit here. The actress is out of depth portraying a Malayali girl and completely messes up the lines she’s been given. The language seems alien and her dialogue delivery is so laboured that one really wishes a dubbing artiste had been employed.

Comparatively, Sidharth appears comfortable in his skin playing a Delhi boy who can’t tell the difference between Pongal and Onam. He channels his inner SRK a lot but given how easy he is on the eyes, you can warm up to him.  

Param Sundari suffers from its delusion of busting stereotypes. Writers Tushar Jalota, Gaurva Mishra and Aarsh Vora write quite a few lines that glorify Kerala’s intellectual and cultural richness while deriding the archetypal images of the South that Indians hailing from the north carry.

Unfortunately, they resort to showing the very same cliches in a forced and inauthentic tone, in the process exoticising the state and its people rather than treating them as human beings.  

Of course, if you haven’t ever stepped into Kerala or have a Malayali friend or watched a Malayalam film in your life, you might enjoy Param Sundari. The music is great, especially the Pardesiya number, the cinematography might make you want to book a flight to Kochi and Sidharth carries off a kasavu mundu really well. But if you fulfil even one of the three points made above, you may just want to skip this one and re-watch Kumbalangi Nights instead.  

At one point, an exasperated Sundari says, “There is no problem that can’t be solved by a Mohanlal song and kadak chai.” There is one, dear Sundari, and that is: Bollywood’s stereotypes.  

I will need a chaaya, a few parippu vadas and a Fahad Faasil movie to get over this one! 

Rating: 2 stars