Chetan Bhagat with Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor

Don’t judge a book by its movie, goes the saying. But that doesn’t take into account a book that was born to be born again in reel.

Abhishek Varman’s 2 States opens exactly where Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States did — at the psycho… oops, shrink’s office. And with that one sequence, we readers sit back reassured that big-banner Bollywood hasn’t messed with the bestselling story. The screenplay follows the book like a faithful pug, right down to the little mole below Ananya’s lower lip, the one that Krish wants to kiss so badly.

If you’ve read the book, you know what’s going to happen in each scene but there are moments when the film outdoes the book. Like after Krish and Ananya get together at IIMA and she pretty much moves into his hostel room, the book simply says “one-and-a-half years later” and brings us to placement day, while the film breaks into the hugely hummable Offo, which shows the passing of the two years through the various festivals celebrated on campus and makes us root for the Krish-Ananya pair even more. It was the director’s idea, says Alia in the “Making of Offo” video on YouTube. #win

In the book, the couple have sex without any fuss, just like normal 20-year-olds in India do. “Needless to say, one thing led to another and within two weeks we had sex.” The film version is cuter, with she asking “Yeh tumhara first time tha?” and he replying, “Tumhare saath? Haan.” #doublewin

For most parts, the dialogue is straight from the book, from the joke about normal curves to Krish’s quip that a Tamilian living room resembles a Punjabi living room that’s been robbed. But ever since the casting for 2 States was announced, I had been wondering about one particular line. The IIM convocation is the first time Ananya’s parents meet Krish’s mom and it doesn’t go well, with Mrs Malhotra grumbling loudly, “These South Indians don’t know how to control their daughters. From Hema Malini to Sridevi, all of them trying to catch Punjabi men.”

Now with Arjun Kapoor, s/ Boney Kapoor, playing Krish, that line was dropped! #awkwardness averted

Among the misses are a few sequences that must’ve got snipped on the editor’s desk. Like Pammi Aunty’s ample-bosomed daughter Dolly, the inheritor of three petrol pumps, who is sent off with Krish for a coffee date at Barsaat, er Barista, by the doting moms. “I can make you forget her,” Dolly says, opening her waist-length hair.

The groom picked out for Ananya — Harish from the bay area — makes the cut, but just by the hair of his flourishing moustache. The scene where Harish tries to feed Ananya his share of breakfast under the gaze of cooing aunts would’ve been fun to watch. But we understand.

What we don’t understand is chopping off the penultimate scene before the wedding, where Ananya’s dour dad helps a mortified Krish tie the veshti, not unlike the Bengali jor. “Uncle’s hand came too close for comfort as he tried to ensure a snug fit. Some say this ceremony is designed to ensure that the groom has his equipment in place. Well, he surely did a good job finding out.” The scene was shot, including Krish’s Mickey Mouse boxers and Uncle’s underwear exchange offer, and Chetan Bhagat even uploaded it on his Facebook page but it’s nowhere in the movie . #mystery in love story

There’s one miss about which I was oh-so-thankful! When Krish’s father fixes everything and puts the wedding back on track, an overwhelmed Krish goes and sleeps in between his parents. Now, that may be sweet but there’s something distinctly disturbing about a 25-year-old man sleeping with his parents, even for one night. In the film, Krish opens his parents’ bedroom door and just as I expected him to slither in between them, he smiles and leaves the room. #phew

Oh, and there’s another BIG departure from the book. 2 States the book belongs to Krish, 2 States the film belongs to Ananya, rather Alia. #salute to the new shero.