Satyaprem Ki Katha review: Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani's love story is high on social commentary

Sometimes ‘Satya’ can be hard to digest for oneself and for others too, says Katha who had left a doubt in the minds of viewers in the trailer itself. Well, for some, it would be a jarring reality but for goofy and good-hearted Sattu (Kartik Aaryan), it became a trial of his love; a test he passes with flying colours and eventually turns into a hero for his heroine.

Can’t exactly pinpoint where in the movie, but Kartik Aaryan has finally arrived with this breezy, romantic flick. Lay bare of all the apprehensions that we all share in the first half of the movie, the latter 40 minutes give a lucid and loud missive — Kartik can play a cowering and boring Gujjubhai with the same finesse as a street-smart Dilliwallah. And yes, he is no less than Vicky Kaushal and Ranveer Singh while effortlessly slipping into the middle-class Gujarati accent.

So, the script is evidently divided into pre-and post-interval halves. Even if you arrive late for the movie, nothing much changes. But, make sure, to grab your popcorn and be seated on time before the movie resumes in the second half.

Director Sameer Vidwans’ plot structure is painted with quite caricaturish characters. He introduces Kartik as Sattu, who is good-for-nothing in the eyes of his mother (Supriya Pathak) and sister (Shikha Talsania). But he is an apple of the eye to his father (Gajraj Rao). He presents an atypical Gujju family where men head the household chores while ladies are breadwinners with the same yawning dialogues. Sattu is the only not-so-eligible bachelor left in the community which seemed too good to be true as he was too good-looking for the role. Well, the casting looked quite overwhelming but ticked the right boxes at the right time in the movie.

When Sattu was given a chance to look for his match himself, he goes back to dreaming of his first crush. Katha (Kiara Advani), is a regular performer in the nine days of Navratri, and the daughter of a rich Gujju family who owns a Gujarati snack shop. Sattu’s wish ‘seems’ to get fulfilled when Katha’s parents come straight to his house for ‘rishta’. Only Sattu’s mother smelled that doubt of betrayal, however, she is not the villain..wait!! She brings a rich daughter-in-law Katha with an open heart, and switches off her dominating self to become a wishful and understanding mother-in-law after looking at the beautiful bride’s necklace…huh?

No, the further story follows no saas-bahu drama, but the beginning of a friendship between Sattu and Katha. A knock of heart-wrenching truth comes when the love just begins to blossom. And yes…when we just began to cherish their chemistry, it shifts down to the first emotional scene of Satyaprem and Katha. And credit goes to the director for this subtle treatment of the ‘truth’ laced with witty dialogue.

Karan Shrikant Sharma’s story had the heart in its right place but the weak screenplay makes the first half quite over-the-top. However, after the interval, the audience may find their interest back as Katha’s hard-hitting truth begins to shatter Sattu’s heart. No spoilers here, but the climax scene will be hard for the mass audience to imbibe as it has a long but sensible lecture on manhood. The film ends with ‘Satyanaryan ki Katha’, the old name of the movie, which the makers had to abort. It was a win-win for both Sattu and Katha, and their characters paint a love story of great strength, dignity and sacrifice.

Kartik was given to reimagine his famous monologue but not completely at one point in the movie. He pulled off his layered character with ease, however, it was his teary eyes in some scenes which will surely sense the struggle of his character. Kiara, on the other hand, felt effortless with her dialogue delivery, especially in Gujarati, and looked beautiful. Supriya Pathak got her fair share of scenes in which she shone as a righteous woman with principles. Gajraj should look for characters that no longer give a feel of him like in Badhai Ho. Shikha Talsania was good with little of what she was offered. Rajpal Yadav plays a shrewd milkman but has nothing much to do.

While Sattu's honest love for Katha may appear foreseeable, borrowing loads from the previous Bollywood massy flicks, in the first half, the screenplay sprucely plays with the structure for the audience to take a deeper and deeper plunge into the characters and circumstances on screen — rather than simply play by the plot.

But while navigating through dark spaces, the audience maintains a logic of hope and a remarkable insight. Indubitably, Katha tells Sattu towards the end – “Tum jaise aur hero hone chahiye is duniya mein Sattu, bahut shortage hai.” For her, destiny has picked up someone with the combined Godly virtues of five Pandava husbands of Draupadi.

The movie has enough meat in the second half for viewers to remain glued – but are they willing to give moviemakers a long rope? As Gajraj Rao astutely mentions in one of the scenes – tea doesn't develop taste if boiled too early; to which Katha replies – tea also turns harsh if kept on flame for a longer time. Unlike the first half, which is too stretched, the second is crisp and smartly edited. 

And, the movie does have a good message for all!