It's unusual to see long winding queues outside movie halls in Delhi anymore
. What with mushrooming jazzed up shopping malls that offer luxurious viewing
or the spate of pirated DVDs, the somewhat rundown cinema halls are spoiled for competition.
The crowd outside a movie hall in the heart of South Delhi was a rare exception.
As one jostled to get tickets for “2 States” one wasn't sure what to expect. The word of mouth publicity was great and so was the storyline but then witness the success of atrocious films like “Dabaang” or many other potboilers.
“2 States” -- that is still playing to full houses, is a rare combination of entertainment and full-blooded emotion. Based on a book, “2 States: The Story of my Marriage” by prolific novelist-screenplay writer Chetan Bhagat, the semi-autobiographical film explores the theme of how the polarisation of cultures between two Indian states can impede a symbiotic relationship between two students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A). Krish (played by Arjun Kapoor) and Ananya (Alia Bhatt) who are madly in love but don't want to get married without their parents' consent.
That's at one level. “2 States” is also a funny, moving story that has its rough side: the tortuous relationship between Krish and his alcoholic father (TV actor Ronit Roy), the cultural divides between a typically Punjabi and conservative Tamil family and the subsequent havoc played on two young lives.
Old hat? Not the way Bhagat's story unfolds or the great sensitive handling of the characters by the director. Every frame in “2 States” makes one laugh, cry or hold one's breath for what's to come. Krish is not your average good-looking big city slicker, nor is Ananya the run of mill heroine. Yet the two are great together; funny yet passionate, light and yet heart-rending when parental opposition threatens to keep them apart.
What makes “2 States” stand apart from other such films is that it follows relationships artistically and sometimes unforgettably. In an interview with IBNLive, Bhagat says of his father, “It was a tumultuous relationship, where there were unmet expectations on both sides. I tried very hard to fix it but beyond a point it was difficult. I had to forgive him to move on in life, and I did so by writing '2 States' where the boy's father plays a positive role in the end. That helped me heal.”
“2 States” -- that is still playing to full houses, is a rare combination of entertainment and full-blooded emotion. Based on a book, “2 States: The Story of my Marriage” by prolific novelist-screenplay writer Chetan Bhagat, the semi-autobiographical film explores the theme of how the polarisation of cultures between two Indian states can impede a symbiotic relationship between two students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A). Krish (played by Arjun Kapoor) and Ananya (Alia Bhatt) who are madly in love but don't want to get married without their parents' consent.
That's at one level. “2 States” is also a funny, moving story that has its rough side: the tortuous relationship between Krish and his alcoholic father (TV actor Ronit Roy), the cultural divides between a typically Punjabi and conservative Tamil family and the subsequent havoc played on two young lives.
Old hat? Not the way Bhagat's story unfolds or the great sensitive handling of the characters by the director. Every frame in “2 States” makes one laugh, cry or hold one's breath for what's to come. Krish is not your average good-looking big city slicker, nor is Ananya the run of mill heroine. Yet the two are great together; funny yet passionate, light and yet heart-rending when parental opposition threatens to keep them apart.
What makes “2 States” stand apart from other such films is that it follows relationships artistically and sometimes unforgettably. In an interview with IBNLive, Bhagat says of his father, “It was a tumultuous relationship, where there were unmet expectations on both sides. I tried very hard to fix it but beyond a point it was difficult. I had to forgive him to move on in life, and I did so by writing '2 States' where the boy's father plays a positive role in the end. That helped me heal.”
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