After the Saiyaara wave swept theatres across India, cinephiles had high hopes from Param Sundari, another romance drama that ticked all the boxes in terms of cast, music and hype — it marks the much-anticipated return of Sidharth Malhotra as a loverboy alongside Janhvi Kapoor in her ever-so-goregeous avatar.
But Tushar Jalota’s Param Sundari fails to meet expectations despite the potential, thanks largely to a cliched story, unfunny jokes and jarringly-absent chemistry between Sidharth and Janhvi.
Here are five reasons why the Maddock Films-backed romcom doesn’t impress.
A shaky foundation
Param Sundari is billed as a ‘Delhi boy-meets-Kerala-girl and falls in love’ romance. Param Sachdev, a rich Delhi boy who invests in upcoming startups, is interested in acquiring an app that promises to find your soulmate. However, he needs Rs 5 crore for the venture, which his father agrees to pay only if Param uses the app and finds a soulmate in 30 days.
The app takes Param to Alappuzha in Kerala to meet Sundari Pillai (please don’t ask her full name). Param pretends to be a guest at Sundari’s homestay in order to cosy up and make her fall in love with him. And just when you thought the romantic track would now kick off, a third wheel makes entry into the picture in the form of Sundari’s childhood friend-turned-fiance Venu (Siddhartha Shankar).
What follows is a series of plot points that are incoherent — these include a Student of the Year-style sports event.
A north-south bridge that collapses during construction
The film claims to be a “north-meets-south” love story, but it actually feels like a caricatured north Indian gaze on the south. Janhvi’s Malayalam accent fluctuates scene by scene, and cultural markers feel forced. The nadir? A loud Punjabi dance number staged during Sundari’s engagement in Kerala — it feels more like cultural appropriation disguised as celebration.
Sidharth and Janhvi do not share a chemistry
On paper, the pairing looked fresh. On screen, it fizzles. Sidharth and Janhvi look good individually, but together they lack spark. Janhvi occasionally reminds you of Sridevi — there is even a nod to Chandni — and Sidharth flexes his swag, but even Sonu Nigam’s vocals in Pardesiya cannot make you root for the couple.
Same old rehashed gags
Romcoms live and die on their humour, but here, the jokes barely raise a smile. The punchlines are either racist — in fact, there is a whole gag on a plane that pans racist jokes — or stretched thin. Supporting characters — Param’s best friend (played by Manjot Singh), Sundari’s smart-ass sister (played by Inayat Verma) who parrots every possible Gen-Z lingo — are written as comic relief, but they end up as irritants.
Music that doesn’t stay with you
If there’s one saving grace, it’s Sonu Nigam’s soulful Pardesiya, which brims with nostalgia. Beyond that, the soundtrack composed by Sachin-Jigar is forgettable. Neither the upbeat track Sundari Ke Pyar Mein nor the romantic ballad Sunn Mere Yaar Ve manages to make an impact. For a film that tries to be an ode to the golden era of romcoms, the music should have been a pillar. Instead, it feels like an afterthought.
