First off, I apologize for my absence of almost a year. I guess you could say I had a prolonged writer's block. But I'm back to give a long overdue review of "2 States".
2 States, a semi-autobiography, written by Chetan Bhagat, author of other popular books, including "5 Point Someone" and "The Three Mistakes of My Life", was a different take on the classic forbidden love, "Romeo and Juliet" plot. The story unfolds with Krish (Arjun Kapoor), a quiet, shy, Punjabi former IIT student,
and Ananya (Alia Bhatt), a meat-eating, alcohol-drinking, "Tamil brahmin", both studying at IIMA for MBAs. Their "just friends" relationship quickly blossoms into love, basically over the course of two songs.
Krish proposes to Ananya shortly before graduation, stirring up the real rising action. Neither family is in agreement with the couple's decisions to get married, and it becomes a 3 hour "jhagda".
As Bhagat says in his book, compared to other marriages around the world, "In India, there are a few more steps: girl loves boy, boy loves girl, boy's family loves girl, girl's family loves boy, boy's family loves girl's family, and girl's family loves boy's family. If girl and boy are still in love then they can get married." For the next 2 hours, the movie becomes a modern version of DDLJ, with Krish trying to woo Ananya's family, Ananya attempting to impress Krish's mother, and the two families vacationing together in Mumbai (Goa in the book). Meanwhile Krish's dad, Ronit Roy, is doing his classic angry father role and is all like:
The movie, unlike "Ek Duuje Ke Liye", ends on a happy note with Krish and Ananya's marriage, and Krish's father attending the wedding; an equally unexpected surprise.
Though appearance wise a wrong selection for the role of Ananya, considering she cannot even be mistaken by a blind man for South Indian, surprisingly, "Radha" brought youth and freshness to an archetypal story and displayed true potential for a basically new actress. It almost makes up for Student of the Year.
Kapoor's acting is good if you can actually realize that its not accidental, and the role he's supposed to be portraying is truly the complete opposite of a "Punjabi munda" (well except for the dance number). Also being a fairly new actor, I think he was attempting the Kristen Stewart approach to acting.
Overall the movie is not bad, and the songs are actually rather good as they fit in perfectly with the story, unlike movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun where "unnecessary song sequences" can be considered a theme of the movie. Unless you're a mushy romantic like me, you will probably feel that the movie, whose plot has already been portrayed time and time again, simply drags on, investing its viewers early on beginning as a sappy rom com, transforming into a full blown bollywood drama fest,
until the end, finally switching back and leaving viewers happy as they exit the theaters. The book is much better than the movie, with comic relief thrown in throughout the story, and a much better portrayal of actual romance beyond just sex. And after you finish the amazing book, the movie becomes so much better, because you already like the story and actually are ready to sit for 3 hours of what is basically a modern political drama.
2 States, a semi-autobiography, written by Chetan Bhagat, author of other popular books, including "5 Point Someone" and "The Three Mistakes of My Life", was a different take on the classic forbidden love, "Romeo and Juliet" plot. The story unfolds with Krish (Arjun Kapoor), a quiet, shy, Punjabi former IIT student,
and Ananya (Alia Bhatt), a meat-eating, alcohol-drinking, "Tamil brahmin", both studying at IIMA for MBAs. Their "just friends" relationship quickly blossoms into love, basically over the course of two songs.
Krish proposes to Ananya shortly before graduation, stirring up the real rising action. Neither family is in agreement with the couple's decisions to get married, and it becomes a 3 hour "jhagda".
As Bhagat says in his book, compared to other marriages around the world, "In India, there are a few more steps: girl loves boy, boy loves girl, boy's family loves girl, girl's family loves boy, boy's family loves girl's family, and girl's family loves boy's family. If girl and boy are still in love then they can get married." For the next 2 hours, the movie becomes a modern version of DDLJ, with Krish trying to woo Ananya's family, Ananya attempting to impress Krish's mother, and the two families vacationing together in Mumbai (Goa in the book). Meanwhile Krish's dad, Ronit Roy, is doing his classic angry father role and is all like:
As predicted, the vacation does not go as planned, and the couple splits up. After the typical senti song and dramatic cry scenes, the conflict is suddenly resolved when Krish's father decides to get up off his chair for something other than a drink, and go to Chennai to meet Ananya's parents.
The movie, unlike "Ek Duuje Ke Liye", ends on a happy note with Krish and Ananya's marriage, and Krish's father attending the wedding; an equally unexpected surprise.
Though appearance wise a wrong selection for the role of Ananya, considering she cannot even be mistaken by a blind man for South Indian, surprisingly, "Radha" brought youth and freshness to an archetypal story and displayed true potential for a basically new actress. It almost makes up for Student of the Year.
Kapoor's acting is good if you can actually realize that its not accidental, and the role he's supposed to be portraying is truly the complete opposite of a "Punjabi munda" (well except for the dance number). Also being a fairly new actor, I think he was attempting the Kristen Stewart approach to acting.
Overall the movie is not bad, and the songs are actually rather good as they fit in perfectly with the story, unlike movies like Hum Aapke Hain Koun where "unnecessary song sequences" can be considered a theme of the movie. Unless you're a mushy romantic like me, you will probably feel that the movie, whose plot has already been portrayed time and time again, simply drags on, investing its viewers early on beginning as a sappy rom com, transforming into a full blown bollywood drama fest,
