Two States

An adaptation of the famous book by Chetan Bhagat 2 States- The story of my marriage, 2 States mainly deals with the cultural differences of its two lead characters Ananya Swaminathan and Krish Malhotra. They meet at the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad and while they are there, their friendship blossoms into romance. The two, certain about each other, take the next step and introduce their respective families on the day of their convocation. And all hell breaks loose.

Like Krish says, they believed that love was enough for the two to spend their life together but their families have a whole different set of expectations and ideals that must be attended to first. The story, apart from showcasing Krish and Ananya’s love story also concentrates on Krish’s relations with his Father and Mother. It throws light on the fact that no family is perfect and that everybody is trying really hard to deal with their and their family’s vices.

The movie is unnecessarily long and the first half in my opinion is a little ( actually quite!)  boring. The second half picks up  much required pace but then loses its steam soon. You seem to be getting as frustrated as the lead characters in the film and you wish that they get together soon, so that you can leave the hall and still believe in fairy tale endings.

The director, Abhishek Varman has managed to capture some heart warming emotions; especially the scenes with Krish and his family are outstanding. He still has a long way to go though and I’m hoping it gets better with future films. I didn’t really feel the chemistry I was hoping for between Krish and Ananya, like the trailers promised. Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt make an attractive pair but the magic was missing.

Arjun Kapoor has done a Fabulous job and his growth as an actor is evident. The story is being told from Krish’s point of view so it was all the more important that he delivered. And he did not disappoint me this time. He is adorable as the geek next door and his expressions are spot on! Alia Bhatt looks stunning as ever and has done well too, but it’s Arjun who steals the show. Supporting actors Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathy and Shiv Swaminathan, who play the parents in the film are perfect for their respective roles and bring out the parental concerns, expectations and judgements beautifully!

The music album, to be very frank, is more loved by me than the feature presentation. Shankar Ehsaan Loy are my all time favourite composers and they have created one of the best music albums of 2014. Amitabh Bhattacharya has become one of my favourite contemporary lyricists and I’m falling in love with his ability to pen out such meaningful poetry in the simplest form of the language possible. His lyrics are fresh, modern and so easy to relate to. I wish him all the luck for a career in playback singing, which is his first love. “Offo”, sung by him is one of my favourite tracks in the album.

I’m not a fan of Chetan Bhagat’s writings and have not really liked any of his works, including this one. But being a child of a two states love marriage myself, I was curious as to see how Bollywood would portray it on screen. I’m not completely disappointed with the final product but I’m not thrilled about it either. It’s not such a walk in the park as they show it to be with characters behaving out of character at the right time, to set things right.

What I gained at the end of the film was respect for Mr. Bhagat, as it requires a lot of courage to put a story out there, one that is so close to your heart and let it be critically analysed by any Tom, Dick and Harry. You and your family will be judged and assumptions will be made as to the kind of people you are, based on an adaptation of your book. Reality and adaptation are two very different things and yet, he is ready to take the risk, and not let what the people will carve him out as after this, affect him,  which is commendable.

There are a couple of parts in the film that leave a mark on you and you are glad they turn out the way they did. It helps you believe that certain things need to be done, however wrong they might seem, so that you can take a stand and make it clear that the unreasonable is not going to be tolerated.

All in all, 2 States is a decent watch if you have nothing important to attend to. It’s a film that showcases that love has no cultural restrictions and also that if you do happen to marry in your own community that will not eliminate the risk of a failed marriage. Be it love or arranged, done in the same community or outside the community, at the end of the day, it’s about the kind of person that you have decided to settle down with, that matters.