New Delhi: 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani is a confused mix of a commercial entertainer and a social-message film which tries too hard to do justice to each of these genres. The Sameer Vidwans directorial begins with a promise of being a no-pretense entertainer when Kartik begins to dance at the beginning of the film in the opening credits song,10 minutes later into Kiara Advani's introduction song and 45 minutes into the film, in the wedding song. 


It's only an hour into 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' that one realises that there is more to just the comical Gujarati tale where people and actors dress as caricatures( full marks to the printed kurtas worn by Gajraj Rao in the film).


'Satyaprem Ki Katha' is a story about a married couple, who negotiate physical and emotional intimacy, after the woman( Katha, played by Kiara Advani) undergoes brutal date-rape horror with her boyfriend. Kartik Aaryan plays the titular lead Satyaprem aka Sattu ( the hero, who comes of age in the film and becomes more mature a human after getting married to Katha).


Performances


First thing first, Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani are a great on-screen pair. But in 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' despite the earnestness in Kartik's eyes in many moments, Kiara steals the show from the start. Her screen presence in the film is staggering.


Meanwhile, supporting cast members like Gajraj Rao and Supriya Pathak are underutilized and the cringe-writing of scenes for them makes the whole show look embarrassing. 


There are a few scene stealers where the two veteran actors shine, but nothing more than a minute is given to the both. For the most part, they play part of an inverted home set-up where the women of the house are bread-winners and the men of the house ( including Kartik and Gajraj Rao) are the homemakers. They dust, clean, wash dishes and prepare food for the women of the house.


Screenplay


'Satyaprem Ki Katha' in the pre-interval film feels like it's been written by a completely different writer. Cringe dialogue is on point. Barring scenes which give a glimpse into the typical middle-class reality of most of our lives and some cheap newly-weds scene where the groom says 'maine apne aap ko apni baidi( woman) ke lie bacha ke rakha.. pata nahi aap mano ge ke nahi, main virgin huin' are all nailed to the point. PS: Is it just a catchphrase or a reality that men who have no hopes of marrying end up saying that to their spouses on their wedding nights...


Returning to the screenplay, 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' feels like a commercial entertainer; scored with songs, cringe dialogue, exaggerated melodrama, and an isolated Guajarati family living on planet Mars which is unaffected by the socio-cultural changes in Indian society since globalization. For the first half, it feels like Gajraj Rao as Kartik Aaryan's on-screen father and Kartik have no other objective in their life but to get the latter married despite not having the means to support the marriage or the brains.


The post-interval 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' is of a completely different genre. Social commentary with a deep meaning seeps in from a harmless quarter. 



Then, 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' ends up becoming something more than an entertainer. Like the film had to qualify some social angle exam to become watchable in a theatre. Truthfully, that's a common formula template many filmmakers have been exploring, especially since content consumption patterns have changed so much post-pandemic. But, why succumb to the need of audience likes/dislikes? If the film has the potential to survive standalone on the basis of the story it tells, why purposely add elements like spoon feeding a social message when it can say all that in a story without being literal about it.


As for making a film work commercially in theatres and be a paisa-vasool film, we do understand the economics of the big hero-heroine songs, but should we not as an audience begin to challenge such moves?


Technical ( Direction, Design, Camera)


Sameer Vidwans, who has directed two Marathi films, before 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' tries to make a big massy film with a message to appeal to the Hindi-speaking audiences. And, in that he succeeds despite all the cringe, predictable, three-act tale that makes no pretense of intellectualizing what it does. There are no layers, everything is literal and in your face in 'Satyaprem Ki Katha'. The audience is spoon-fed and given a cathartic moment at the end and what more can a filmmaker strive to achieve.


The production design is extravagant and tacky and in places out of place. Ahmedabad is not just Ahmedabad for it's skyline and city view, the cultural ethos is missing. Like the 'Jayeshbhai Jordaar' fiasco of caricaturing Gujarat, 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' fails in that department miserably.


There is not a lot of experiment with the form. Grand dance sequences are awkwardly shot in places or was it just me who was seeing a blur Kartik Aaryan in master shots. 


Sudden closeups on faces going through a meltdown, was a good cringe, self-inspection tool. There is also a lot of use of mid-shots, mirror shots, and master shots; to give a sense of being deeply involved in this grand spectacle of a film.


Music


'Satyaprem Ki Katha' is very musical. It has a loud background score complimenting emotional and dramatic scenes and a song for all big sequences of the film. The music suits the genre and the grand songs suit the big-screen Hindi film experience.


Theme


'Satyaprem Ki Katha' is problematic despite being a story of two naive people who undergo a coming-of-age experience and become responsible, empowered adults capable of making correct decisions with an idyllic hope that planet Earth is not a hostile place to live. 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' talks about consent but not women's clothing or careers.


For instance; if Katha is made to realize that getting a rapist punished is the right course of action by questioning years of patriarchy, or Satyaprem made to understand that living of someone's dowry is not a decent thing to do, or the equality in emotional relationship shown, the women are still made to work in the kitchen at important points, or made to wear ethnic clothes that it appeals to the accepted societal standards. One wonders, if you are creating such an empowered tale about consent, about inverted gender roles in the house, about a man ( who corrects a man who addresses his better half as his wife) who stands for equality in a relationship, why not go all out? 


Do we as a society have the courage to face it or as filmmakers who are slightly brushing with feminism in their films, not sure about their intentions or the viewers intellect? 


Conclusion


That brings me to the end of this review. In all, 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' is a safety net in which is wrapped some important contemporary social message that men and women should know of. It preaches this through the predictable and comfortable backdrop of familiarity so that the new and modern in the film is accepted by all.


This Kiara Advani, Kartik Aaryan starrer is a weekend watch if you wish to get the complete paisa-vasool experience once in a while.


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