Param Sundari flattens Kerala into stereotypes, more tourism brochure than cinema
text_fields
No one can say Param Sundari is a disappointment because it delivers exactly what the trailer promised - a tonedeaf, caricaturish portrayal of Kerala straight from a tourism brochure.
Tushar Jalota’s Param Sundari, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor, arrives as yet another film exploring the culture-clash romance between a North Indian man and a South Indian woman.
Released this week, the 136-minute Hindi-language film attempts to balance comedy, drama, and music against the backdrop of Kerala, but falls back on predictable tropes and overused cultural symbols.
The story follows Param (Sidharth Malhotra), a young entrepreneur from Delhi who is persuaded by a friend to invest in a dating app. The app leads him to Sundari (Janhvi Kapoor), who runs a homestay near Alappuzha. Accompanied by his companion Juggy (Manjot Singh), Param travels south to meet her. While Sundari is initially distant, her younger sister Ammu (Inayat Verma) is welcoming. Hostility comes from Sundari’s uncle Bhargavan (Renji Panicker) and, later, from a rival suitor, Venu (Siddhartha Shankar).
The film makes visible efforts to avoid the common mistakes Hindi cinema has made in representing South India. Characters speak in Malayalam, but like a North Indian does. No Malayali dubbing artist was used for Janhvi Kapoor.
However, the treatment relies heavily on tourist-brochure imagery. Coconut palms, backwaters, elephants, Ayurveda, kalaripayattu, Mohiniyattam, kathakali, and even the stereotype of a Malayali nurse all make appearances within the first hour.
While these details ground the setting, they do little to strengthen the narrative, which remains formulaic. The love story progresses along expected lines, punctuated by cultural misunderstandings and reconciliations. The film’s reliance on familiar checklists of “Kerala culture” prevents it from feeling authentic.
Performances add little weight to the story. Malhotra delivers a subdued act, while Kapoor appears overly styled for the simplicity of her character. The music, composed by Sachin-Jigar, provides the film with some of its most memorable moments, though the songs often feel more central than the plot itself.
In the end, Param Sundari does not surprise anyone. It offers a glossy, surface-level portrayal of Kerala while rehashing a well-worn template of cultural contrasts in romance. The film leaves viewers with the sense that Kerala has been used more as a backdrop than as an integral part of the story.
