I saw the movie yesterday night with a friend. I was expecting a lot from the film, it was okay in all honesty..nothing spectacular or pathbreaking. I haven't read the book so I have no idea what's similar or different or how well they captured everything etc..but I'd say the film is decent but nothing more. Arjun and Alia however really, really surprised me and I think their performances catch your attention more than the plot itself.
There may be some SPOILERS below.
First of all, I saw this film in Manhattan last night and the theater was packed..tickets sold out..people sitting on the stairs, complaining that they paid for their tickets yet they had no seats. A lot of people sneaked in without a ticker for 2 States. A lady walked in 15 minutes late and threw a fit while the movie STARTED that she paid for a ticket and isn't going to move out of anyone's way until she found a seat...she demanded that everyone get their tickets checked. Security had to come in and take care of this entire situation..asked the people sitting on the stairs to wait for the next show or get a refund. I felt 2 bollywood movies at the same time. 😆 So after 20 minutes of that drama WHILE TRYING to watch the movie..😆 I finally got a chance to focus...
What I liked..Alia has improved tremendously. I watched SOTY in theaters too and Alia was the weakest link when compared to Sid and Varun IMO. However, with her very first scene in 2 states, she came across impressive and she just keeps on surprising you from thereon. She looked gorgeous by the way. She looked cute when I saw her in SOTY..however, here she looked beautiful. Her makeup, wardrobe, hair etc was close to perfect. As I said, her acting improved tremendously..where she still needs improvement is her emotional scenes. In one of her scenes with Arjun (after she overhears him and his mother talking about how to handle her post their marriage)..she really couldn't cry. I think that was the only disappointing scene for me from Alia's side because otherwise, I really do think she did great for her third film.
I honestly didn't think Arjun was all that impressive in the trailer. However, after seeing and understanding Krish's secluded character (as I have not read the novel), you realize Arjun was perhaps a perfect choice. He did whatever was required and at the end, I think Arjun was more convincing than Alia by a little bit. That's probably because Arjun did his emotional scenes far more convincingly whereas I thought Alia did not. Oh and both of these 2 had awesome chemistry..I wouldn't mind seeing them do another film together.
The supporting cast was kind of meh. I didn't really like Amrita Singh's performance and I was left a little disappointed because of that. She wasn't effortless or natural..neither did I find her all that funny. At times, I actually thought she was trying way too hard and ended up overacting/hamming? as the Punjabi mother. She did however look beautiful. Revathy was way more convincing in my opinion...but Ronit Roy was hands down the best. His role wasn't as prominent as the other supporting actors..but whenever he had screen space, he was brilliant.
The plot - truthfully is such a drag. Girl and boy fall in love (way too quickly by the way) and the remaining 2 hrs is all trying to convince their parents who are against the whole marrying someone outside of your province, culture and whatnot. I don't know how the book is or what it has to offer, but the screenplay was weak sauce in my eyes. Nothing interesting, extremely predictable..and as I said, a drag. I think the film would've been far more interesting if it was set in the 90s? I mean isn't that when it actually happened since it's based off a true story.. I feel it would've been far more intriguing if there were no cellphones, laptops, such explicit make out sessions etc while showing the story of Ananya and Krish. The music and cinematography were good though.
Overall, I think it's a one time watch. I feel those who haven't read the novel may just ask themselves, so what's the big deal with the novel, 2 states? especially since the writing didn't seem too impressive either. There weren't any hard hitting dialogues whatsoever. For those who have read the novel, I can't say because I have no idea how the novel flowed..but as I said if you haven't you may just end up feeling the way I feel. 😆..because I wasn't really overwhelmed after it ended. It was decent but nothing else. If anything, watch it for Alia and Arjun because they end up surprising you.
I'd give it a 3/5.
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