‘Param Sundari’ (2025) Movie Review - A Romance Comedy Without Romance Or Comedy

There comes a moment in Tushar Jalota's Param Sundari when Sundari, also known as Thekkepattu Sundari Damodaram Pillai (played by Janhvi Kapoor), launches a brief verbal attack on Instagram Reels. She expresses concern over people's short attention span and thinks that during such ADHD times, it's difficult to attract an audience for something like Mohiniyattam, a classical Indian solo dance named after the mythological enchantress Mohini. If Param Sundari had been one of those spoof films where characters break the fourth wall to assure us they know what kind of film they are in, Sundari would have looked directly into the camera and said, "I know, this movie, too, is like an extended Instagram reel." Jalota doesn't "direct" the actors; he assembles them in front of pleasing backgrounds and asks them to pose for him. Jalota has no feeling for the performances or the story he is telling. He and his co-writer, Aarsh Vora, set their film in Kerala so that they can photograph the "aesthetically pleasing" views for likes. There are wide shots of the backwaters and natural greenery, all captured in soft, glowing light. Jalota shoots scenes like an influencer who clicks photos for his social media posts — bland beauty masquerading as gorgeous eye candy. 

Sidharth Malhotra, in that sense, looks like the perfect poster boy for this film. His six-pack abs, sturdy arms, and vanilla expressions fit naturally, effortlessly into the artificially curated world of Param Sundari. Like the flavorless images, Malhotra's acting lacks impact and substance. His presence is almost nonexistent, and the only way he manages to grab our attention is by hovering in front of the camera throughout the runtime. Demote him to a supporting role or second lead, and one might forget he's even in the movie. As Param, Malhotra moves across the screen like a man who's self-conscious about his looks, his appeal. He performs for the camera, trying to be "aesthetically pleasing" to such an extent that he gives the camera a full view of his ripped body through his workout routine. With big muscles and negligible acting skills, the best way to use Malhotra is to convert him into an object of sexual fantasy. This is how a nurse sees Param, and her gaze is the only right thing in a film that's wrong about almost everything. I wish I had caught the name of the actor who plays this nurse character (the end credits roll too quickly, and currently, there is nothing about her on Wikipedia and IMDb). She brings a delicious smutty energy that's sexually charged to such a high degree that Jalota struggles to use it or contain it. Hence, she is given only two or three small scenes, which she nonetheless dominates like a queen. A better director would have understood this actor's frequency and taken his film into the realm of nutty sex comedy.
 

Moreover, the nurse provides an accurate description of Param's body, referring to it as something generated by AI. One can extend this compliment to Jalota's filmmaking. Many filmmakers are worried about AI and its negative impact on the movie industry (Raanjhanaa, recently, became a victim of AI). However, I think we should be more concerned about directors who create films that are just as bad as the AI-generated content polluting our online feeds. Case in point: Jalota and his Param Sundari. There is nothing "human" about this romantic comedy. Why does Sundari like Mohiniyattam? What is it about this particular dance that she finds appealing? There are no solid answers, either verbally or visually. When Sundari performs Mohiniyattam, she is filmed impersonally. There is no joy, no pleasure in what she does on the screen. We don't see an artist in love with her work; we see an actor trying to get her steps right. Sundari, at one point, decides to become Param's tour guide. What she tells him about the various locations and cuisines is something the movie shows no interest in. What we get instead is a song (Pardesiya) that functions like music people add to their posts or stories. Jalota, obviously, doesn't mind. He, in fact, has zero interest in the story he's telling. This is why he fails to address a plot hole in the film. Param invests in a dating app, developed by Shekhar (Abhishek Banerjee), which claims to find soulmates based on your body's frequency or something. To create an account on this app, you need to fill out a basic form and do a face scan. Sundari, too, has an account on this app, but we later find out that this account was created by her young sister, Ammu (Inayat Verma), secretly. Now, the question here is a simple one: how did Ammu get Sundari's face scan? Don't look at Param Sundari for answers. It overlooks the face scan thingy, just as it overlooks a real estate developer who has his eyes on Sundari's property (he appears to be a creep, which is why I wondered whether he was taking pictures of the property or of Sundari).
 

There are a few traces of "humanity" in Param Sundari, and they all come from side characters like that nurse and some local men who also have a crush on Sundari. One of them cries when Sundari's marriage is fixed, while another (a man in a blue shirt) smiles when Param and Sundari kiss. Oh, yes, there is another character who gives a funny, cartoonish expression when he receives an injection. This scene is preceded by a comical fight scene that could have been genuinely amusing if Jalota knew how to execute comedy. Banerjee, meanwhile, sticks out like a sore thumb due to his professional acting. But fret not; Jalota writes him off as a scam artist, which seems funny, considering that the only scam here is this film. Param Sundari deceives the audience by selling itself as a romantic comedy, only to fail at delivering both romance and comedy. If Param Sundari is what you want, choose that Shreya Ghoshal song from Mimi, which served as an inspiration for the title of Jalota's film. The song is peppy and energetic — a compliment that, alas, cannot be extended to this flatline flick. 

Final Score- [1.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times