#2States- Fresh, Funny, Lovable, A Good Adaptation and not Stereotypical…

If you have read the book, the adaptation may not seem far off from how you would have imagined it as a movie. This was a good refresher after 2 years of having read the book and perhaps much more refreshing as a movie. It is rather uncanny that in the past year a lot of the popular Bollywood movies have had the tamil culture/ Chennai based themes to showcase – Chennai Express, Madras Café & now 2 states. This movie stands apart,  for it doesn't try to force the culture stereotypes, while still keeping it real to present day Punjabi and Tamil cultures.  I for one who is a self-proclaimed south Indian girl born in Chennai, was so relieved NOT having to see the female protagonist with a funny accent, a geeky look or overactive mannerisms.

The story is about a Punjabi Boy and the South Indian Girl who fall in love while studying at IIM A  and their adventurous journey towards a cross cultural marriage. Both Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt share a great onscreen chemistry for sure but even independently as actors have done a great job. Arjun Kapoor has been  lucky getting these meaty different characters to play in the few movies he has done, but one can’t take away from him the fact that he has great screen presence and is an extremely talented actor. The casting of this movie is perfect, one couldn't have thought of better actresses to have played the roles of the mothers. Both Amrita Singh & Revathy have played their characters to perfection and they bring the best laughs.

A few heart touching lines from the book are a part of the movie screen play (Chetan Bhagat) and infused momentously. Not everything could have been put in a 3 hour movie but I really missed three funny parts from the book, all relating to the cultural humor during weddings- the drunk Punjabi Rajji Mama, the red mickey mouse underwear under the veshti and the Kasi Yatra. Quite contrary, however, when I did read the book I didn’t really think the world of it but I really did love the movie.

I guess Indian Pop fiction is growing in a big way with authors like Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi and Sidin Vadukut (coincidently, all with management backgrounds) with excellent stories to tell the masses. I can’t wait for a movie on the Shiva trilogy or a hilarious comedy on the Dork (I can imagine Vir Das playing Robin Varghese!).  The IIM’s seem to make good writers for sure and this why I wish I had studied harder;)