Film adaptations are seldom better than the book; the rare ones which stand out are mostly movies wherein some cinematic liberties have been taken to make it a more engrossing watch. Chetan Bhagat, the blue-eyed boy of Bollywood when it comes to film adaptations writes simple; simple writing which people relate to. That explains his mammoth success and huge fan following (mostly youngsters) even if most of his critics term his 
books mediocre. All his books so far except the last one have now been made into movies and the writer can rejoice even with this adaptation – Based on his own love story, ‘2 States – The Story of My Marriage’ had a lot of potential to be a big screen treat and Debutante Director Abhishek Varman doesn’t at all let it down. ‘2 States’ is one of the finest movies in recent times.
Krish Malhotra (Arjun Kapoor) meets Ananya Swaminathan (Alia Bhatt) in IIM-Ahmedabad – sparks fly and they fall in love. But we live in a country where love between the couple is as important as love between their families. A Punjabi family is as different from a Tamilian one as chalk is from cheese – a tough task indeed to get them together to approve of marriage. Our protagonists here don’t want to elope but they want their respective parents to be happier than them when they tie the knot. So, Krish opts for a campus placement in Chennai to win over his sweetheart’s parents (Revathi and Shiv Subramaniam) and Ananya has to do the same when the two travel to Delhi for a wedding. Krish lives in a dysfunctional household – his dominating mother (Amrita Singh) lives with an abusive husband (Ronit Roy). It’s a simple story simply told and by remaining true to the book.
The director succeeds well in keeping alive the charm, humour and drama of the book in his film adaptation so much so that Bhagat’s one-liners and views are also borrowed for it. This is why ‘2 States’ works so well and even 
if you haven’t read the book, you should be able to enjoy every moment of it. In one of the scenes, our hero tells his sweetheart that he wants to be a writer. When asked what he would write, Krish explains – ‘Story mein hero naa ho, story hero honi chaahiye’. The story of the book and the film is simple yet it is about a very pertinent issue – inter-caste marriages, something our country is still conservative about even in cities. The movie works at many levels – as a love story because the on-screen chemistry between Arjun and Alia is super fresh, as a family drama because of the humour arising out of clashes between two different communities and as a rom-com which you may just watch with your friends or sweetheart. We have seen inter-caste love stories before – ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ or even the more recent ‘Vicky Donor’ but ‘2 States’ drives home the point in a more mature conclusion towards the end, of course the same as it is in the book. Apart from all of that, I thought the relationship between an abusive loser father and his son was very well portrayed. Where the director falters is the length of the film – at two hours and twenty-nine minutes, it becomes a little long than it should have been and you might become restless as it all ends up in a marriage. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is good. ‘Locha-e-ulfat’ and ‘Offo’ are music to the ears while the other tracks were not really needed.
Arjun Kapoor is a revelation here and will surprise you not because you thought he can’t act but because he proves he can do a routine lover-boy role as well as he can do a role with negative shades. He underplays his role with the right understanding it required. Alia Bhatt graduated with ‘Student of the Year’ and then gave us a mind-blowing performance in ‘Highway’. She is excellent here too and looks very fresh and cute, reminding me of a younger Kareena Kapoor. Just three films old, she (and Parineeti Chopra) can give any of the bigger heroines a run for their money – a huge star in the making; watch out for her! Amrita Singh is fantastic as the dominating over-protective Punjabi mother. Revathi is okay in a role that doesn’t demand much from her but doesn’t fail to leave a mark, also reminding you of her stint in Bollywood by lip-syncing ‘Saathiyaa tune kya kiya’. Shiv Subramaniam is rightly cast. But it is Ronit Roy who comes up with the best performance as the unlikeable abusive husband who has always failed to be his son’s hero. He plays it with a certain maturity and you are bound to appreciate it.
Watch it or not: Fans of the writer and book will not be disappointed. Even if you haven’t read it, you will like it. A must-watch for youngsters, couples and family!
At the Box-Office: Will open well mostly to packed houses and sustain over the weekend and coming weeks. There are no good releases in the month of May as well except for Hollywood biggie ‘The Amazing Spider-man 2’ and this will be an added advantage apart from Arjun, Alia and the recall value of Chetan Bhagat’s book. Hit!
My Verdict
My Rating
You will love to travel to the ‘2 States’; there is a lot of love, warmth and charm.
