The saving grace is…yes, there is so much to gripe about that I will begin with the sort-a kind-a redeeming qualities.

The new-age language pops out for you to notice it rather than blending with the film. And that doesn't quite "slap". See what I mean?

The unabashed racism via the problematic alter-ego friend is countered. It is called out, it is not normalised, and it is reversed using the character's arc. In that sense, Param Sundari offers a social commentary.

Then, the third point of the love triangle is actually a likeable character instead of the usual despicable one in such films.

But, aren't these aspects the bare minimum in any kind of responsible writing? And anyway, the rest of the writing and narration is as lazy as it gets. It feels like yet another film that worked its way backwards. They either wanted to make an Onam film or highlight the North-South contrast through a film. In either case, everything else is retro-fitted to serve that purpose.

Within that too, the details are rather shabbily written. The lead lady character is quite inconsistent. She is conveniently sickle-wielding, no nonsense bold or loses all agency depending on the part of the story we are at. One might argue that she is vulnerable to certain characters in her life, but it just isn't convincing.

Other than that, save for one honest moment, the film is loud. It skirts around being slapsticky, but doesn't want to own that label. There's loads of objectification. I guess they want us to be grateful that it is equal opportunity objectification as far as gender goes.

Towards that end, both Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor look absolutely stunning. Their act is constrained by the material given to them making it slightly unfair to judge their performances. Inayat Verma is the most engaging of all the characters who have been decidedly told to go over-the-top but be under control.

This last bit convinces me that the makers were very aware of the plot's plainness. Only that can explain the weird #ificiation of the dialogue. The new-age language pops out for you to notice it rather than blending in with the film. And that doesn't quite "slap". See what I mean?

- meeta, a part of the audience