Story:
On finding out about her pregnancy, Sitara (Sobhita Dhulipala) proposes marriage to her on-and-off boyfriend Arjun (Rajeev Siddhartha). However, she keeps her pregnancy a secret. The narrative then shifts to Sitara’s maternal grandmother’s place in Kerala where her nuptials are to take place. As Sitara is joined by her parents, maternal aunt and grandmother, best friend, and childhood companion to prep for the upcoming wedding, clandestine secrets unravel, almost about every family member, including one involving Sitara (or Tara as she’s referred to in the film). The bubble of the seemingly happy family and its members gets burst resulting in a devastating situation. Clouds of the buried secrets from the past loom large over Tara’s impending wedding.
Review:
Love, Sitara attempts to bring to the fore human frailties, touching upon topics like illicit relationships, infidelity, sibling rivalry, disturbing truths, and delusion, among others, but never examines them with a judgemental lens. If that’s what director Vandana Kataria was aiming for, she has managed to hit the nail right on its head.
The screenplay, which Kataria co-wrote with Sonia Bahl, suffers from an uneven pace and may test your patience at times but it is peppered with glimmers of hope packed in the no-nonsense exposition of the uncomfortable truths kept hidden by the characters. What works in its favour is that they don’t beat around the bush. Neither do they treat these secrets as scandalous (which they indeed are). The true winner here is the simplicity with which they’ve tried to normalise them in the setup of a dysfunctional family.
Even though the film clocks in an hour and 45 minutes of runtime, it still feels too long. This can be attributed to some redundant scenes and attempted humour that doesn’t quite land. Sample the ones involving a housemaid’s drunkard husband or a couple of dining table conversations with the family members that were intended for small laughs but failed to leave any impact. The dialogues by Abbas and Hussain Dalal are mediocre at best. Szyman Lenkowski’s cinematography deserves a special mention for capturing the pristine beauty of Kerala.
Sobhita Dhulipala puts up a restrained yet effective performance as (Si)Tara – a stark contrast from her fiery character of the same name in Prime Video’s Made In Heaven. She’s understood the pulse of Tara and shines bright in her portrayal of the same. You don’t quite empathise with her, but that’s the point. You aren’t supposed to. Rajeev Siddhartha is extremely likeable as Arjun. He doesn’t get as fleshed out a character as Tara but he makes the most of his time on screen. Sonali Kulkarni as Tara’s aunt Hema and Virginia Rodrigues as her mother play their part well.
Veteran actress B. Jayashree as Tara’s grandmother is a delight. However, we hope she was given some sparkling lines to match her wisdom. Tamara D’Souza as Tara’s best friend Anjali doesn’t get the scope to do much while Rijul Ray as her family friend Majeed is quite good in a small part. Sanjay Bhutiani puts up a decent act as Tara’s father.
Verdict:
Love, Sitara is no Kapoor & Sons when it comes to the portrayal of a dysfunctional family, sure. But it isn’t trying to be. It’s a simple film, exploring the complications of human emotions, failings, and foibles without any judgement. Does it manage to justify Leo Tolstoy’s opening line in Anna Karenina – “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,”? Watch Love, Sitara on ZEE5 to find out.
Love, Sitara
Watch on: ZEE5
Director: Vandana Kataria
Writers: Sonia Bahl, Abbas Dalal, Hussain Dalal
Cast: Sobhita Dhulipala, Rajeev Siddhartha, Sonali Kulkarni, Sanjay Bhutiani, Virginia Rodrigues, B. Jayashree, Tamara D’Souza, Rijul Ray
Rating: 3 stars
(This Review was first published on The Movie Mail’s Instagram page)
