2 States - A marriage not to be missed.

Story -

Based on the Chetan Bhagat's novel, the story is about two lovers who wants to marry their parents with one another in order to be united forever. It's a predictable love story since the novel is equally famous among the film's target audience. How the boy gets the girl's family to like him & how the girl gets the boy's family to like her, how the boy & girl gets the boy's family to like the girl's family & how the boy & girl gets the girl's family to like the boy's family form the entire novel as well as the screenplay for the film. It's based on a novel & yes it is a "novel" story too. 

The Film - 

The movie follows the novel not just page to page but actually word to word. The first half starts decently with Arjun Kapoor's introduction & it's his narration unravels the story of his marriage to the viewers. It's love at first sight for him, so he gets the audience involved in his love story. The story moves in a decent pace giving ample time to both the principle characters to get established. For this kind of story it's very important to clarify the characterization of the lead characters & that is what makes them instantly connect with the audience. Their successful love story comes to a point where they need to take it to the next level i.e. getting committed. That's when they decide to meet each other's parents & also get the parents to meet each other since these are no ordinary lovers, they are lovers with high self respect for themselves & their love. What next? Have North Indians & South Indians oops Tamilians ever shook hands & hit it off straight away. May be for friendship, for crush but for starting a relationship.... 

With that starts the second half, where the lovers try everything to bring each other's parents together & convert the hatred into love. The efforts are honest, heart touching, funny, romantic & that makes the flow of the story even more smooth. Like I pointed, all it takes is the instant connection, the movie's first half successfully establishes that much needed connection with the viewers that makes it easy for the second half. Yes, it gets little more filmy in the second half but that's how Chetan Bhagat's writing skills are. Too many hurdles for the lovers to unite & too much stronger the relationships are in this film. How the hurdles are passed is something to watch out for. 

Performances -

Arjun Kapoor impresses brilliantly throughout. I wonder why he kept reminding me of Abhishek Bachchan in many scenes but that might be just me. He enacts his role with conviction & ease. Alia Bhatt shines yet again, she's convincing as a Tamilian-Brahmin & yes she again speaks with her eyes. 

But the real stars of the film are Ronit Roy, Amrita Singh & Revathy. The real savers as well as contributors to this film are these three. They've such strong characterizations, Amrita Singh as the Punjabi mother actually lives the character. The movie can be connected with real life characters mainly because of her. Revathy again comes out with flying colors, she sang Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya & that was my paisa vasool moment. Then, Ronit Roy, man what a terrific performer. Salute to him for his controlled performance. Shiv Subramaniam as Revathy's husband supports very well. 

Plusses - 
1. Definitely the performances especially Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathy & the two lovers. 
2. The relationship between a mother & son is beautifully exploited here. It's really heart touching. 
3. The proposing scene. Beautifully shot & performed. 
4. The dialogues, no two thoughts about it. 

Minuses -
1. Like I said the movie follows the novel word by word. Anybody who knows the novel by heart like me would say "they could've simply made the characters read out the novel for 2 hrs". For us novel readers, the story doesn't offer anything even slightly different than the novel. 
2. The music, they did gel well with the mood of the film as well as in the narrative but still they lacked the charm & one does miss a chartbuster. A love story without charbuster songs will definitely would end up making us feel something's incomplete. 
3. Since the movie follows the novel so closely, the pace keeps dropping now & then making the narrative inconsistent. 

My Rating - 3.5/5