Satyaprem Ki Katha kicks off with a song called Gujju pataka, which, among many others of similar sound and feel, reads: ‘Dekho main cute hoon, Krishna ki flute hoon.’ The fact that it is picturised on Kartik Aaryan, whose perpetually present toothy grin threatens to give way to one of his (in)famous monologues any second, and is followed by the actor rehashing the kind of buffoonish loser he has played in the past, almost convinces you that this will be one of those assembly-line productions that combine raucous comedy with contrived romance.
However, Satyaprem Ki Katha, helmed by Sameer Vidwans who has a few credible Marathi films under his belt and makes his Bollywood debut here, springs a bit of a surprise, addressing some pertinent issues and moving away from the tried-and-tested even while keeping its storytelling within a typical mainstream format. The results are mixed, but the film remains watchable for the most part, which, in a post-Adipurush world, is a small mercy that we are glad to latch on to for dear life.
Set in Gujarat where garba seamlessly meshes into zumba and where the names of dishes — Ghotala Dosa to Gunpowder Khakra to Methi Na Gota sound more like atom bombs (Kareena’s words in 3 Idiots, not ours) — Satyaprem (Kartik) and Katha (Kiara Advani) have a made-in-heaven hashtag, even before they set eyes on each other. This, however, is no meet-cute. Katha, the cynosure of every eye in the garba sammelan where she claims to be “more popular than Falguni Pathak” is not at all taken in by Satyaprem aka Sattu whose screaming tagline, as described by his bickering mom (Supriya Pathak Kapur) and backbiting sister (Shikha Talsania) is: “BA LLB mein fail, ghar ke kaam mein total fail.” Sattu’s only ally is his dad (Gajraj Rao), and the moments between father and son — the two actors play off each other very well in both comedic and emotional scenes — are some of the most heartwarming and humorous in the film.
An enamoured Sattu, a do-gooder with a heart of gold, knows that Katha is way above his league. But when the opportunity to marry her falls right into his lap, his grin gets so wide that he is unable to see Katha’s downcast eyes. The marriage, as expected, hits many a roadblock, with Katha gradually warming to Sattu’s clean heart and clean intentions, but the weight of her secrets does not allow her to get closer to him. It’s not long before the families on both sides get into the couple’s bedroom — literally and figuratively — with Sattu and Katha’s already thorny relationship poised to break down irrevocably.
Repackaging ‘Pyaar dosti hain’ and ‘No means no’, Satyaprem Ki Katha takes a largely progressive route. It’s not every day that one encounters conversations around asexuality (though used as a red herring here), date rape, first-second-third base in a relationship and post-traumatic stress disorder in a commercial Bollywood film. While it may falter in its execution, especially in terms of its overbaked plot and lengthy runtime, Satyaprem Ki Katha deserves praise for even attempting to go where many others still don’t, especially within the milieu in which it is set.
It is perhaps the large-scale acceptance from an audience weaned on free-from-censorship OTT content that provides the makers of Satyaprem Ki Katha such freedom and fearlessness. The film, in fact, has tangible shades of the 2013 release Akaash Vani. Besides the similarity in the title — Akaash Vani was gleaned from the names of its leads — the film also starred Kartik, then only known as the ‘monologue man’, and dealt with the prickly topic of marital rape. Akaash Vani was a good film that went unnoticed but the glossy packaging of Satyaprem Ki Katha — big stars, big budget, wide theatrical release and a couple of hummable songs, including the contentious Pasoori adaptation — ensures that this is as mainstream as it can get.
In fact, Satyaprem Ki Katha could well bring back the era of clean, heartfelt Bollywood romances, which Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan’s Zara Hatke Zara Bachke has already found favour with, translating into the sleeper hit of the season.
That Kartik and Kiara successfully bring the story to life, both individually and collectively, gives us one more reason to like Satyaprem Ki Katha. Kartik displays both his rambunctious as well as his tender side effectively. But it is Kiara who steals the show, delivering a complex role with nuance and feel. The combination of the two, seen together last year in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, lies in the fact that their chemistry can switch seamlessly from romantic to platonic.
The other seasoned players — Gajraj Rao, Supriya Pathak Kapur and Anooradha Patel — expectedly do well, as does Siddharth Randeria as Katha’s father. Rajpal Yadav pitches in with a rip-roaring cameo.
One grouse with the film, however, is its deep-seated male saviour complex. Like many a Bollywood film of the past and present, Satyaprem Ki Katha needs its leading man to first accept, then support and finally egg on his woman. That is perhaps something that will still take a while to change. But then again, if there was no ‘Katha’, there wouldn’t be any ‘Satyaprem’.
