Meenakshi Sundareshwar falls flat to half baked writing and Bollywood cliches

The coming together of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar, another name for Shiv Paravati, was indeed a divine intervention. The famous temple in Madurai holds tall for the sanctity of this holy match. But is it possible in the 21st century world of metros and long distance relationships? The premise is lovely.

Early glimpses of  Meenakshi Sundareshwar took the audience off as they felt pleasant, unique and aesthetic. Next, we saw Man Kesa Kesar with a graceful Sanya Malhotra dancing unabashedly in the fresh background music. Not to forget the silhouette scene in the song. This, and the young talented duo of Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dasani were enough to excite the audience. One expects the movie to be aesthetic, lovely and unique. The two do not disappoint, yet the film falls flat to Bollywood cliches and half baked writing, soon after its exposition.

The story begins with an accident meeting as Sundar’s parents arrive at the wrong house for their son’s rishta. The two exchange glances from a meshed window. Meenakshi confidently enters the room and says, “Sorry I was getting bored in the room. Her personality is clear.  Meenakshi is a bold, beautiful, and confident girl who seeks love in her arranged marriage and is an ardent Thalaiva fan. Sundar is a shy engineer, who likes blue as it is a safe colour and for whom coding is an art.  He is at the same time, honest and resolute for seek his passion for coding.

Despite his hesitance, the two like each other and get married at the temple of their name. In a scene, Sundar’s bhabhi says “She is a Rajnikanth fan while I am Dhanush fan, we were meant to be a family.” The colours, detailing, costumes and background are wonderful in this part, and draw the viewer’s attention instantly. 

Right on their first night, Sundar who is resolute to make a living on  his own, and not join the family business gets an interview call, and studies a book on Python. Meenakshi’s arrival in his life indeed proves lucky and he lands a job in Bangalore. The only catch is that the job is only for people who are single. A strange prerequisite present casually.

Here is when the structure of the film starts crumbling. Sundar, like he says, tries his best to make his long distance relationship work but his world at the moment has only place for one. This brings complications. Sanya’s effortless performance motivates one to stay tuned in these parts but the plot is truly casual. Thanks to OTT, you can even forward it sometimes. 

Sundar’s friends/enemies in the big city are like we have seen in many ordinary web series. They do not have depth or background. Next, come time old Bollywood cliches like catching the husband drunk among his friends, and a surprise visit by parents. A song in the train that comes next is completely unnecessary. 

The chaos in plot points minimize the interest one had gathered in the early half of the film. There are n number of times when we feel why Meenakshi is in love with this boy at all. when truly, he is only bothered about his job. But the challenges of Sundar are also pressing, because not proving himself means joining the family saree business. The film that perhaps wanted to show the beauty of an arranged marriage, ends up highlighting its problems.

The film ends on a note of celebration, but it fails to move you as the conflict ceased to be powerful. Nevertheless, what works are warm tones of the film, a pleasant chemistry between the leads and Sanya Malhotra’s unabashed dance to Thailaiva’s songs. You can catch the film on Netflix.