Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai? review: A snooze fest that falls flat on its face

1.5/5

You’d have been living under a rock if you didn’t come across the viral ‘Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai’ (Sonam Gupta is unfaithful) memes on social media back in 2016. It all started with a picture of INR 10 currency that had these fateful four words scribbled on it. ZEE5’s latest offering Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai? that stars Surbhi Jyoti and Jassie Gill in the leads is based on this incident that became a Google trend and a nation-wide talking point, finding a mention in one of PM’s speeches too. Starring a stunning ensemble cast that includes the likes of Surekha Sikri, Brijendra Kala, Vijay Raaz, Atul Shrivastava among others, the premise of the film is set in the small town of Bareilly where Sonam Gupta (Surbhi Jyoti) is the most sought-after lady and almost every guy in the gully wants to woo her. The only one who manages to (or thinks that he has managed to) do so is Sintoo (Jassie Gill). The film navigates their journey of dealing with love and heartbreak while trying to give a lesson or two about life. 

Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai?, directed by Ssaurabh Tyagi, has absolutely NOTHING that works in its favour, right from the word go! The film is marked under the genres of comedy and romance on ZEE5, but there’s nothing funny or romantic about the story and screenplay, whatsoever.  

To be fair, the movie begins with quite interesting character descriptions for both Sonam and Sintoo, giving the viewers a quick summary of their childhood and the way they’ve been brought up. While Sonam Gupta is a small-town girl with big dreams in her eyes, Sintoo is a simpleton who has only studied till the 12th standard. In one scene, Sonam whistles at her father (Brijendra Kala) and calls him ‘Gupta ji’, thereby scandalizing him and making him believe that iske lakshan theek nahi lag rahe so might as well get her married off. Sintoo, on the other hand, is the apple of his mother’s eyes. He’s an aimless 26-year-old, whose father (Atul Shrivastava) has a lingerie shop in the market. Ideally, he should help out his father in running the shop but he doesn’t as his mother insists that he’ll only work when he has his own showroom. Instead, he sincerely stalks Sonam while she’s on her way to and from college (with her entourage of ‘girl’ friends).  

The introduction of the lead characters is the only part of the film that can be dubbed as somewhat engaging. As this two-hour 16-minutes-long film progresses, it goes down the drain, one scene at a time. While one would expect the film to have a few funny moments to make you laugh for it to be called a comedy, especially because it’s set in a small town and based on an interesting premise, there’s not a single scene or dialogue in the movie to inspire even a chuckle.  

On paper, the central idea of a dejected lover, scribbling down his feelings on a currency note which goes viral, inspires a meme-fest, becomes a nation-wide talking point, thereby inviting a chain of possibly hilarious events, does seem promising but in Ssaurabh Tyagi’s directorial, it ends up becoming a snooze fest that falls flat on its face owing to an extremely weak screenplay, uninspiring dialogues, stereotypical characters and lack of humour and romance. There’s not a single element in the film which will keep you hooked to it.  

Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai? begins as a mundane small-town one-sided love story in the first half but goes on to become a ‘life-lessons teaching’ session by the time it ends. Honestly, a lot of the film, especially the second half doesn’t make sense at all. It seems too stretched with a major chunk of it being wasted in hovering around the question of whether or not, the size matters (it doesn’t BTW) in marital union. Okay, agreed that it is a taboo subject that hasn’t really been explored much in cinema, but how it’s dealt with here is neither inspiring nor funny. The entire sequence seems unnecessary and forced into the screenplay for reasons best known to the makers.  

Coming to the performances, Jassie Gill as Sintoo is likeable in his role and tries to do justice to his one-dimensional character with utmost sincerity. Surbhi Jyoti on the other hand brings nothing new to the table, but we don’t blame her. Had her character been written well, given the setting and premise of the film, she may have been able to deliver better. There’s a reason why both these characters do what they do in the film, but the writing never manages to establish that connection with the audience, for them to be able to empathize or feel for either Sonam or Sintoo. A question that is still lingering in my head is – why does Sonam Gupta travel with an entourage of at least four of her ‘girl’ friends? Whether she’s going to college, or the market or a restaurant – she’s rarely alone. 

It’s a major disappointment to see a bunch of talented actors being wasted due to the lack of proper author-backed roles. Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, the late Surekha Sikri, Atul Shrivastava are terrific actors, but their character arcs are too superficial and lack depth. None of them gets enough material to work with. It is a royal waste of their time and talent, especially for Sikri as this is her last onscreen appearance.  

The less is written and spoken about the chemistry between the lead couple, the better it will be. Instead of giving them some moments and lines to highlight their romance, there seems to be too much dependency on songs that crop up at the most random junctures in the screenplay. What’s more frustrating is that these songs are quite forgettable and they rarely add any value to the overall narrative but end up testing your patience further. My ears bled at the pathetic attempt to recreate Suresh Wadkar’s classic song Aur Is Dil Mein Kya Rakkha Hai (Imaandar, 1986) by Rahul Mishra. 

In the past four-five years, there have been quite a few movies set against the backdrop of small towns that make for at least an endearing and entertaining watch (read Bareilly Ki Barfi, Badhaai Ho, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan etc). There’s nothing that can be singled out as a saving grace for Kya Meri Sonam Gupta Bewafa Hai? but you definitely can save your precious two hours 16 minutes this weekend by skipping it.