Sanam teri kasam... good ol' Bollywood

Sanam teri kasam, is a story that we almost forgot as mainstream Bollywood cinema. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru have come out with a story that is so intense and emotional that a yesteryear Shahrukh Khan would bow to it. The dancing/directing duo’s other works are I love New York which features Sunny Deol and Lucky – no time for love featuring Salman Khan. Enough said.

 It is a story set in a middle class Telugu family which has firmly not moved ahead with times. This is sort of ironic considering the leading man, Harshavardhan comes from Andhra Pradesh and in the story the girl’s family is being portrayed as Telugu. But the ironies don’t stop here. The leading lady, Mawra Hocane is a Pakistani VJ who makes her Bollywood debut.

The family are trying to get their daughter married to the pageant bridegroom from an IIT IIM. But the movie wins only under the premise that the audience don't ridicule the cross section of the people it refers to. 

Mawra Hocane plays Saru, the extremely adorable but a big time loser leading girl. Credit has to be given to this new actor who is wonderful in the movie. Harshwardhan Rane is the dad hating Inder who has been released from juvenile prison. And what prison gave him, it seems, is impeccable abs, the biggest tattoo on a male protagonist in Bollywood till date and an extremely expressionless face. He looks every bit a newcomer in a movie where his hitherto little known leading lady steals the show. This is yet another irony considering the string of Telugu movies that Harsha has already acted in.

The story has every imaginable cliché. A hardened dad. No, make it a couple of hardened dads. A sister hating sister, a playboy suitor who is set to lose against the hero, an impending doom and the one thing that isn't mainstream is a dialogueless Vijay Raaz! Now that's a serious employment wastage considering the mediocrity filled in the movie. 

If u ask me a verdict, for all the holes I've punched in the movie, I liked it. I've clearly fallen for the enchanting Mawra whose haunting sweetness carries the movie really well despite the massive amount of tears she sheds. In an ubercool age like today, where movies try to beat the other on sheer ingenuity, comes a movie to, probably, remind us the good old Bollywood. It does a great job of that. A sappy tale where many actors had to come together to make it cohesive and logical. The movie does that and it is a definite tearjerker. Sanam teri kasam reminds you of Maine pyaar kiya and the sorts. Make no mistake we loved them. If only Radhika and Vinay had good editors the movie would do so much better than what it currently does. Thumbs up nevertheless