Movie Review: '2 States'

Krish (Arjun) is a relaxed Punjabi with an IIT degree to flaunt. Ananya (Alia) is a modern Tamilian with an Eco-topper tag to her credit. Both meet at a queue leading to a bad sambar and a good rasgulla, become friends, and slowly graduate in love along with graduating in MBA from IIMA. They decide to tie the knot but come to know that the threads of their families are differently knotted. They decide to tackle the easy end of the problem first – to convince Ananya’s parents to agree. Krish chooses Chennai as his work location, warms up with her family, gives her younger brother IIT tuition, encourages her mother to pursue singing, helps her father prepare a presentation, and then hits the iron when it is hot by sweetly proposing the entire family to marry him; and that does the trick. The South okays to meet the North; or should I say, the low-keyed agrees to meet the loudmouthed. The Northerners seem to feel that the position of the state in the map reflects the level of status in the society and behaves accordingly. Krish's mom, Amrita Singh, becomes a tough nut to crack and convincing her disturbs the delicate equations. Some sparks fly when the two opposite poles try to unite. The whole drama with various tactics to woo the opposite party and to compromise on some of the things you hold so dearly to your heart is woven really well.

The film touches many of the untapped angles on the path from courtship through to marriage. I applaud director Abhishek Varman for effectuating the perfect frames to pull off Chetan Bhagat’s story; especially the wedding scene towards the end with apposite background sounds is the scene that made me go wow. Ronit Roy nicely fills the shoes of a bully-with-a-heart father. Amrita Singh and her counterpart, both give a punch of their presence. Arjun looks good in the role of a soft-spoken, levelheaded lover. But the pleasant surprise for me is Alia Bhatt who emerges as a true headturner with the mind of her own, showing proudly the mettle of her acting. The movie is a candid display of a sweet love story with parents creating a rough weather and lovers keeping their cool, settling the dust by the end. The enjoyable thing is the culture clash that is amazingly captured both in the book and in the movie. There is indeed a watchable stuff in here and is as fun as watching delicious chicken being served in a banana leaf with a potful of sambar and a bottle of booze by the side of a hungry gut.