Love, Sitara opens with a wedding in Kerala, where Tara, played by Sobhita Dhulipala, unabashedly introduces her dysfunctional family. Tara’s family outwardly paints a happy picture of an ideal family, but they have perfected the art of haphazardly covering up the truth. This is a classic toxic Indian family, running on hypocrisy and hiding several secrets that can tear it apart.
The flawed romance here isn’t just limited to the protagonists. Every romantic relationship in the movie is flawed. The family help married an alcoholic, and the favorite aunt had an inappropriate relationship with a married man. Featuring a disturbing series of inappropriate couples, the film exposes the sad reality of many Indian marriages.
Love, Sitara is a satirical mockery of romantic relationships. It exposes mistakes directly without much beating around the bush. The film excels at exposing the hypocrisy prevalent in society, where people openly condemn others for hiding their secrets. “Love, Sitara” reveals with unflinching honesty the flaws and double standards that often exist in our most intimate relationships.
What I particularly liked was director Vandana Kataria’s attempt at a balanced portrayal of traditionalism and modernity. This is one of the few recent films where the two coexist, and points out how awkward this contradiction can be. Rather than justifying modern hookup culture, it raises questions about the establishment of traditional marriage. The film also eschews the stereotypes of Malayalam families seen in Hindi films, where you see houses reduced to extended temples with rooms.
As for the acting, Dhulipala does a decent job of portraying a flawed, messed up and selfish woman who is unable to sort out her priorities. “Tara” isn’t written in a way that moves you or makes you feel sorry for her and the troubles she brings upon herself, but it does a good job of breaking through the extreme stereotypes typical of women on screen. You won’t feel much sympathy for her, but maybe that’s the point.
However, Siddharth and Virginia Rodriguez’s performances are the best of them all. These two actors bring calm to the otherwise chaotic life around them. Contrary to the hypocrites around them, their poise is delightful and delightful. Siddhartha’s cooking sequences are cathartic, and Rodriguez’s calmness as he handles things is a highlight. Although the script doesn’t give the duo much room for multi-layered performances, they shine in their roles.
“Love, Sitara” has good intentions and starts off strong, but its overall execution is somewhat lacking. Themes of hypocrisy, hypocrisy and infidelity are all touched upon, but the film avoids the impact these might have on the characters and story. Despite some powerful scenes, including one in which Rodriguez’s character suffers a nervous breakdown after a disturbing reveal, the momentum continues to erode as time goes on.
The conversation at the dinner table was particularly ugly. The laughs feel forced and the jokes miss their landing spot. They feel more like early morning laughter yoga than the usual family dinner. Even though the movie is based on the family’s pretentiousness, these fake laughs are hard to swallow.
Love, Sitara has all the makings of a good film on paper, a perfect flavor of tradition and modernity, and the deep flaws of both, but it lacks the finishing touch. It ultimately felt like a good first draft of a film that had the potential to transform into something more challenging and complex, but instead it was rushed into release with half-baked ideas. The movie conveniently skips over the ugliness of infidelity. While I understand Kataria probably didn’t want the film to be too heavy or seem like a moral lesson about monogamy, the story could have been more compelling if the reality of the relationship issues it raised were taken into account .
Some tropes seem out of place and act as unnecessary filler to the storyline, sprinkled throughout the film for decorative purposes. For example, Arjun’s father, a retired army officer, is nothing more than a prop who was added to the film just as another example of a dysfunctional relationship. He was there simply for defiance, casting a disappointed look at his son and wearing a pretentious badge of superiority. Honestly, the movie could have done just fine without him, or at least given him some more meaningful scenes to justify his presence.
Instead, some character tropes are wonderful but underutilized even though they appear infrequently. For example, B Jayashree plays Tara’s savage grandmother. She is unapologetic in her own right, loves to browse newspapers for interesting obituaries, and knows when to stop. Every scene of Jayashree is a joy to watch. However, although her character initially seemed important, she soon unexpectedly took a backseat; it was as if the director had forgotten about her.
However, despite its shortcomings, Love, Sitara is a decent take on family dysfunction in an Indian family, effectively contrasting old-fashioned and modern relationships without ever favoring one over the other. The film holds a mirror up to society’s hypocritical standards, bemoaning a culture of unstable, relationship-hopping young people that can easily accommodate inappropriate relationships if kept secret. It reveals how the erotic fallacies that plague mankind are perfectly concealed under the mask of idealism.
If the film hadn’t shied away from presenting its subject matter with more grit, it likely would have made it onto many fans’ annual favorites lists, including mine. Sadly, this is not the case. While Love, Sitara may not be as good as it could be, it is an honest attempt to depict the evolving dimensions of love and relationships, even if it doesn’t scratch beneath the surface.
Rating: 6/10
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