There are strains of Richard Curtis and even Shakespeare in this charmingly cheesy Bollywood film about a thirtysomething manchild who falls for a woman way out of his league. Set in Gujarat and directed by Sameer Vidwans, Kartik Aaryan plays Sattu, an unemployed loafer who spends his time moaning about his enduring virginity and doing the housework (badly) for his despairing parents. When he goes to a dance and sees the resplendent Katha (Kiara Advani) performing, he resolves to win her heart – only to discover that she has a flash boyfriend. Sattu’s chances with her soon rise, however, when he gallantly saves her life and is promised her hand in marriage by her sinister father, for reasons that are slowly teased out.
This is a film bursting with colour and movement, with talky, dramatic sections ceding to epic dance sequences involving hundreds of impeccably turned-out performers. There’s been grumbling in some quarters about one of the songs, which is a reworking of the Pakistani megahit Pasoori; here, the original’s melancholy beauty is ditched for a blander, more upbeat sound. But the rest of the music, on the whole, is catchy and involving.
Some performances are better than others: Gajraj Rao does a lovely job as Sattu’s crumpled, avuncular father, and Advani brings subtlety and class as Katha, even if you never believe that she could fall for such a dope as Sattu (who, with his vacant smiles and boyband hair, seems really quite thick). Few of the characters prove themselves to be much more than stereotypes – the acerbic younger sister, the severe but wise mother-in-law – but there is a kind of mechanical satisfaction in seeing each of them triumph or get their just deserts, as appropriate. The story also bravely ventures into taboo territory, touching on abortion, suicide and rape. Before you can get too depressed by it all, though, the cast are singing, dancing and batting their lashes at one another, and everything feels all right again.
• Satyaprem Ki Katha is released on 29 June in cinemas.
