critic's rating:  3.0/5

SatyaPrem Ki Katha starts off as a rich girl meets poor guy romance. It ticks all the boxes of the often repeated formula. Then after the interval, it turns serious and segues into mental health territory. It's Sameer Vidwans' homage to such films as Woh Saat Din and Mouna Ragam, which depicted love blossoming between two individuals who get married despite having nothing in common but then find a way forward due to circumstances.

Satyaprem (Kartik Aaryan) and Katha (Kiara Advani) meet each other during the garba jalsa in Ahmedabad and sparks fly. The fly in the ointment is that she has a boyfriend. A year later, he learns that she had broken off with her beau. When he comes to meet her, he finds she'd tried to commit suicide and rushes her to a hospital, saving her life. Impressed by his unselfish act and honest ways, her father, who runs a popular sweets shop, wants to marry her off to him, despite Satyaprem not being employed and belonging to lower economic strata than them. Katha initially doesn't want this forced marriage but later agrees. She's uncomfortable with sleeping with Satyaprem and uses his habit of snoring loudly in order to avoid that. But the truth is much deeper and bitter. Katha has been a victim of date rape and hence funds herself in a mental block about sexual relations. It takes a while for Satyaprem to find that out. Once he does so, he realises that instead of trying to consummate his marriage, he should first try to win Katha's heart. How he goes about doing so forms the crux of the story.

The film has its heart firmly in the right place. Date rape is a crime which hardly gets reported. Victims are stopped by their own family members from filing an FIR fearing public humiliation. Worse, girls blame themselves for getting into such a situation and don't easily come out of the tragedy. It takes a harsh toll on their mental as well as sexual health. Like it's shown in the film, they can't bear to be near any man, let alone have sex with him. A vast amount of counselling is necessary to help them return to normal. And, of course, love and acceptance of family members is crucial as well.

The film shows a plausible scenario where the women of the family are supportive of Katha's plight while her father and father-in-law both find themselves repulsed by it. Thankfully, her husband is woke enough to understand the concept of date rape and supports her thoroughly. The film ends with the positive note of Satyaprem encouraging Katha to file an FIR against her rapist and promising to stand firm with her through thick and thin.

Where the film slacks is the editing. It's too slow for its own good. And the dramatic impact of several scenes gets diluted due to inept transitions. Music is another let down. A romantic film needs songs which you can take home to, but that isn't the case here. One wouldn't have minded the film having no songs at all, as they eat into the runtime. Also, the director should have toned down on the melodrama, instead of dialling it up unnecessarily.

The supporting cast, comprising Supriya Pathak, Shikha Talsania, Siddharth Randeria, Anuradha Patel and Gajraj Rao are all dependable actors and have brought their A game to the table. It's sad to see Rajpal Yadav doing bit roles once more. Let's hope better times prevail for him. The film's leads, Kiara Advani and Kartik Aaryan, show great camaraderie on screen. They come off as a troubled couple, trying to set things right. Director Sameer Vidwans creates an atmosphere of hesitancy, of awkwardness between them. And the actors too play off each other and shine in those scenes. Kiara Advani and Kartik Aaryan both have more to do in this film than their other releases and show a willingness to push the envelope, trusting the director's vision.

All in all, SatyaPrem Ki Katha is a love story with a difference, thanks to the cause it espouses. No means no. Watch the film for its powerful message and for the chemistry between Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani.

Trailer : SatyaPrem Ki Katha


Ronak Kotecha, June 29, 2023, 4:07 PM IST

critic's rating:  3.0/5

Story: It’s love at first sight for Satyaprem aka Sattu (Kartik Aaryan) the minute he sees Katha (Kiara Advani), a beautiful and aspiring singer from an affluent Gujarati family in Ahmedabad. But their love story isn’t as simple as Sattu would have imagined.

Review: A failed law exam, no job or friends and constant jibes from his maa -behen (as he likes to address them) at home - Satyaprem’s life is far from ideal but that doesn’t ever dim his toothy smile that he wears so confidently, no matter what. His father (Gajraj Rao) is his only friend, who understands him. He eggs him on when his son falls head over heels for the first girl he sets his eyes on – a strikingly beautiful Katha, who besides being way out of his league, also has a boyfriend, who is equally rich. But Sattu finds a ray of hope when his gossipy father known as Panchayati Kaka brings him the good news that Katha’s prem kahani with her boyfriend has ended for good. Armed with his smile and unconditional love for Katha, Sattu marches on to confess his love to her, without bothering to find out the reasons for her breakup. And that’s when a new chapter opens up in his doomed one-sided love story for the girl, who is harbouring a big secret.
Revealing anything more than this about the plot would be a sureshot spoiler. But let’s just say that Satyaprem ki Katha isn’t the kind of film that you would’ve expected it to be from what you saw in the trailer. Far from a rib-tickling comedy featuring some of the finest talents from the world of Gujarati and Hindi cinema, this film is hard-hitting, poignant and delivers a strong message. The film falters at the screenplay level, which is laborious and gets stuck in a loop of repetitive conflicts. Writer Karan Shrikant Sharma throws in a few socio-cultural comedic punches, taking swipes at typical Gujarati families and their staple foods like dhokla, khakra and gota. But the overall theme of the film is committed to driving home a social message. While doing so, the narrative often drags with scenes that don’t make the best use of the talents at hand.

Kartik Aarayn once again wears his heart on his sleeve and flashes his pearly whites way more than required while playing the simpleton Sattu, who believes in calling spade a spade because ‘sach bolne se pehle sochna kya’. There is no denying that playing a relatable boy-next-door is Kartik’s core strength and he does it with immense ease once again. It’s so easy to root for him even when his Gujarati accent is all over the place. Somehow, it’s endearing, and sits well with his character of a dim-wit loser. Kiara Advani has a more difficult role to portray here. Katha’s story has an unspoken emotion that needs to be understood and the actress gets the accent and the feel of the character spot on. Kiara delivers a fine and restrained performance in a complex role, by far the best of her career. Director Sameer Vidwans and his writer give their women a voice, by showing us an unconventional Ahmedabadi middle-class family where the ladies not only run the house but also ensure that the men are well aware of the deeply non-patriarchal dynamic. But, there are also dialogues like ‘aap pe aise sau baidiyan qurbaan’ as Sattu tells his father, which goes squarely against the very core of the film’s message. But even with such uneven dialogues, the battery of talented character actors like Gajraj Rao, Supriya Pathak and Siddharth Randeria perform their parts with full conviction. Rajpal Yadav is utterly wasted in a cameo that had a huge potential to bring good comic relief. The film’s music (Manan Bhardwaj and Payal Dev) blends well with the narrative and is quite melodious. The recreated version of Shae Gill and Ali Sethi’s OG Pakistani chartbuster ‘Pasoori’, sung by Arijit Singh and Tulsi Kumar that has sparked a controversy, doesn’t leave any lasting impact. Cinematographer Ayananka Bose captures the essence of Ahmedabad’s cosmopolitan, yet conventional vibe quite beautifully.

Satyprem Ki Katha is driven by its need to preach and give a message. The subject does move you and leaves you with much to think about, however, it tends to take the more emotional route than an entertaining one.

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