Sanya Malhotra starrer Meenakshi Sundareshwar was released on the OTT platform Netflix last Friday and it immediately became the talk of the town. A product of Dharmatic Productions (sister production house of Karan Johar’s Dharma production), the film had already garnered a lot of brouhaha through it’s funny and intriguing trailers that talked about long distance relationship of the married couple Meenakshi (played by Sanya Malhotra) and Sundareshwar (played by Abhimanyu). However, on its release, it received mixed reactions from the audiences for varied reasons. 

The premise of the film is based on the Hindu mythological story of how God Sundareshwar (incarnation of Lord Shiva) married princess Meenakshi (incarnation of Goddess Parvati). The Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai stands as a testimony of their harmony and love till date, and the foundation of the film heavily borrows from this tale. Meenakshi Sundareshwar is like a breath of cool air right from the start. It is gratifying to see fresh faces like Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu in leading characters. Also, the novel and riveting concept is the portrayal of the South Indian culture in all its zeal and glory. MS captivates the audience with its ‘Karai Dosai’, ‘Jigarthandai’ and ‘Thalaiva’ references, with a sneak peak into the city of Madurai. 

Another notable thing about MS is the depiction of arranged marriages- it has done a great job drawing the picture of two strangers meeting with the prospect of marriage. The idea has been presented with such coherence stripped of any ‘Bollywoody romantic’ pretence. And how! It is a gentle and a pleasant reminder that while we cosmopolitan people are getting on and about with careers and new notions of love and marriages, there are also thousands of people in Tier 2 cities who are living, prospering and multiplying, rooted to the old idea of arranged marriage. The marriage procession is also fairly seeped in reality which is a pleasant change to watch after an overdose of Big Fat North Indian Weddings that Bollywood usually features. 

Where Did it Lack?

Any happening needs an introduction, conflict and resolution to become a story. While Meenakshi Sundareshwar had an over the top introduction, it had fairly weak conflicts and therefore, even weaker resolution. Conflicts became a matter of concern right from the start. Meenakshi was a self-assured, confident person, who was definitely struggling with the continuous long-term physical absence of her husband. But her helplessness wasn’t captured well enough. She was also going on lunch dates with Ananthan (who seemed like a romantic spark from the past) but that did not do very well to underpin the loyal, conflicted and head-strong character of Meenakshi. Similarly, Sundareshwar on the other hand was struggling with his office that was intolerable to marriage or any romantic connections of their employees. Which again was a weak link in my opinion.

Another issue with the film was that after one-third of the story, it became an extended ad for engineering and mobile phone ads. It lacked depth of character or any hook in the storyline. Rather, it would most likely remind you of short videos that TVF does on hostels and student life like Kota Factory. Worse, an extended episode of Netflix’s Mismatched where the students study to develop an app which would help them get a degree. MS was the same except there was a job at the end of it and not a degree. Also, Mismatched tenants were allowed to engage in romantic relationships. Not just this, at times you would also feel that certain scenes reflect the mobile phone ads where they show you the HD camera quality, bokeh effects and clarity. Point is, that all of these combined together made MS a dull affair with no creativity to move the narrative forward.

The humour is also misplaced in Meenakshi Sundareshwar. For instance, the kid who utters specific statements even before the elders could say them out loud was meant to induce laughter or a giggle. But it failed to do so as the narrative trope lacked consistency, wit or humour. One more example of this is when Sundareshwar and his flatmates/ colleagues drink alcohol and shake their heads in order to get high faster. Yet another example is the placement, choreography or lyrics of the songs. To me it seemed to draw comedy by exploring humour in the bizarre but clearly it did not work. Another film that comes to mind when talking about the humour in the bizarre is Rani Mukherjee starrer ‘Aiyya’.

In addition to that, the film shifts tone frequently and lacks consistency. It is always on the edge between realism and facetious satire. For example, Meenakshi visits Bangalore with her father-in-law and nephew, but on the way back she is alone in the train (the filmmakers clarify that they have reservations in different cabins which is plausible). But soon after the story transitions from realism, there is a train song sequence and then a solo ride back home where Meenakshi instructs the rickshaw driver to ‘take her to a sad place’. Why do the father-in-law and the kid not accompany her from the railway station? It is either a huge technical glitch or some sort of dream sequence gone wrong. 

Last but not the least, the climax feels too weak and sporadic. The conflict of the last distance relationship continues from the first act but reaches its moment of last string that is contemplated to either break or mend. The weight of issue is trivialised because the resolution has already been present all throughout- the one year duration of the couple that has to be lived through. And somewhere, we all knew that it was going to end with the completion of the internship. So to consider separation at the end of the certified time duration feels inorganic. The climactic separation is also fueled by the argument between Meenakshi and her aunt-in-law which seems forced and comes without a closing judgement. The couple, as expected, eventually make up between a Rajnikanth film when Sundareshwar comes back to apologize. Well, we all knew that. Didn’t we?