Director: Shelly Chopra Dhar
Star Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 3 Stars
Sonam Kapoor starrer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, finally hits the theatre today. The film has been the talk of the town ever since the first trailer was released because of the subject of same-sex relationships. The movie which is not a conventional love story deals with the sensitive topic that not many of us are comfortable talking about and that's exactly where the makers score brownie points. The movie is helmed by filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra's sister Shelly Chopra Dhar and kudos to her for beautifully portraying the unconventional love story on screen.
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The movie also marks Sonam's first-ever collaboration on silver screen with her father and actor Anil Kapoor. The romantic drama also stars Rajkummar Rao and Juhi Chawla in the prominent roles and has been produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra under his banner Vinod Chopra Films.
STORY: Sweety (Sonam Kapoor) lives with her father Balbir Chaudhary Anil Kapoor) and family members in a small-town of Punjab, Moga has a secret that she is shy of revealing to her family and society. Her secret is known only to her elder brother who has warned her of the consequences. In between, she bumps into a playwright Sahil Mirza(Rajkumar Rao) who is instantly smitten by her. After a series of misunderstandings finally Sweety reveals her secret of being a homosexual to Sahil. Sweety also admits that is in a romantic relationship with a woman(Regina Cassandra) whom she met at a wedding. What happens next is the story of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. Will her true love find acceptance in her family and society?
REVIEW: The movie is touted to be a film on acceptance of unconventional romance and full points to screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal and director and co-writer Shelly Chopra Dhar for narrating the story with such ease and conviction.
Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has a fair amount of humour, despite of dealing with such sensitive topic. The movie focouses on Let love be, set love free.
The first half of the movie doesn't highlight the subject and looks like a usual rom-com with fun, laughter and emotions. Rajkummar Rao simply steals the screen every time he appears and Anil Kapoor too is brilliant in the comedy department and lights up with his energetic persona. The first half also deals with a beautiful father-daughter relationship between Sonam's character and her reel and real life father Anil Kapoor.
The second half of the film is on point and will keep you hooked till the end. Few scenes will also give you goose bumps. There is also a parallel cute romance between Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla that will instantly win your heart.
Few moments in the film will make you emotional, like the one where Anil Kapoor reads his daughter Sonam's diary after she comes of her closet of being a gay.
The casting of the film is just perfect other that the lead stars, the movie's ensemble supporting cast like Bijendra Kala and Seema Pahwa has also has done well in their small roles. Sonam looks gorgeous and brings a sense of cuteness to her character.Kudos to her for taking up such a role and after Neerja, ELKDTAL is another milestone in her career.
Anil Kapoor has done full justice to his character and Juhi Chawla's comic timing is on point and still intact no wonder she is "mind-shattering" in the film. Regina Cassandra who plays Sonam's love interest has a good screen presence, she is a Tamil actress and the movie also marks her debut in Bollywood. Though there is not much screen presence of the actress still she looks convincing.
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But it is Rajkummar Rao who steals the movie and is just perfect in every scene, the actor has once again proved that he has established a niche for himself in Bollywood and has once again raised his bar high.
The movie isn't just about same-sex relationships, but is also about the freedom to be yourself and be proud about it. However the film becomes preachy towards the end, like the scene where Anil Kapoor gives a speech on stage looks a bit filmy.
Overall the movie deserve an applaud and you should definitely watch it.
Here'a a look at the first QUICK REVIEW of the film: