There is nothing ‘never seen before’ about Sanam Teri Kasam. It is a predictable story and in fact its biggest twist is clear at the start itself if only one watches it carefully. Saraswati comes from a strict South Indian Brahman family. Her father wants her to get hitched to an IIT-IIM grad but unfortunately due to her appearance, she is often rejected by her prospects. Saraswati has a younger sister who is waiting for her sister to get married so that she can go ahead too since she already has a boyfriend. Inder Parihar (Harshwardhan Rane) is the bad boy in Saraswati’s building. He has a rough past and is often looked down upon as a criminal in the building. In a misunderstanding of sorts, Saru’s father suspects that she is having a fling with Inder and that’s when things get ugly. He disowns her and Saru is then supported by Inder who in spite of having feelings for her, tries to patch her up with an IIT/IIM guy (Engineer).
The film’s plot could have been better had it not been so larger than life dramatic. Playing to stereotypes is quite typical of Bollywood. So don’t be surprised by misrepresentations. Being librarian, Saru has to be geeky and because she has nerdy looks, no guy is good to her and she is filled with self doubt. Aren’t we done portraying that being pretty gives you self-worth? Other than these obvious faults, the film keeps missing out on detailing like at one point, Inder and Saraswati are at Kullu and he seems to teleport to Mumbai in the next scene.
Harshawardhan Rane makes his Bollywood debut with this film. He gets ample of occasions in the film to flaunt his chiseled look and bad boy looks that may although, he still has a long way ahead. Mawra Hocane, too makes her Bollywood debut. The Pakistani actress makes a decent debut. She overdoes in a lot of scenes, especially her nerdy-girl act. Sanam Teri Kasam may have a faulty storyline but the film has been shot quite well. The locations being real, a smooth camera work can be seen too. The film falls flat when it stretches scenes that run too long. There is too much of crying involved and those often put together break-down scenes are extremely depressing for the audiences. Editing department clearly has issues. After a barely bearable first half, the second half seems to be running forever. Sanam Teri Kasam is nothing extraordinary. It is watchable if you into soppy, teary love stories.
Rating: 5/10 | 2.5 Stars