Love Sitara: A lackluster family drama fails to captivate

A direct to Zee5 release; Love Sitara brought back memories of the saucy and zingy Monsoon Wedding (2001). Only this one turns out completely bland and ineffective at writing level.

Sitara (Sobhita Dhulipala), a Mallu interior designer in live-in with a Punju chef Arjun (Rajeev), opts for a hasty native wedding after she turns preggers. So far so great!!

Only the trip to her Kerala hometown brings out the inner secrets of her dysfunctional family, which include illicit affairs, extra-maritals, forced compromises and what not!! I was actually expecting a closet gay character to pop up but thankfully, that didn't happen. Phew!!
Admittedly, the plot had potential for a comic satirical family drama, Meera Nair so nicely explored in Monsoon Wedding but director Vandana Kataria whiles away this good opportunity due to an unimaginative screenplay and her oh so predictable characters. Ooff!!

Sobhita Dhulipala carries off her lovely sarees and ethnic dresses fabulously but falls a tad short on the acting front. Sonali Kulkarni as the middle aged philandering Hema Chachi, is truly impressive and the best thing about the film. Unfortunately, her role is short and ill explored. Wish we had a movie on her instead of this wedding muddle. Love Hema, actually yea!!

Ratings on some key aspects* :
1. Acting : 3/5
2. Direction : 2/5
3. Music : 2/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 2/5
5. Cinematography : 4/5
6. Editing : 3/5
7. Costume Design : 3.5/5
8. Special Effects and VFX : NA
9. Action : NA
10. Production Quality : 3/5

#SNRating for #LoveSitara : 2 stars out of 5.

- Sumeet Nadkarni

* - The overall film rating is not a simple average of all ratings on key aspects but a weighted average of the ratings where some crucial aspects (like direction, acting, story and screenplay etc) are assigned more weightage than others.

#LoveSitara #FamilyDrama #HindiMovie #Bollywood #SobhitaDhulipala #SonaliKulkarni  #BollywoodReview #BollywoodNews  #Filmreview  #TheatricalRelease #OTTRelease #Zee5 #SNRatings

#SNRatings barometer:
1 star = Poor
1 & 1/2 star = Below average/ Avoidable
2 stars = Average
2 & 1/2 stars = Above average/ Risk it
3 stars = Good enough/ Endurable
3 & 1/2 stars = Definitely worth a watch
4 stars = Very good
5 stars = Masterpiece/ Outstanding.

2024 SNRatings. 

About Sumeet Nadkarni:

Sumeet Nadkarni is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a self-styled film critic by passion. He reviews Bollywood movies and OTT releases on his popular personal blog #SNRatings. His film-related articles have appeared in leading publications in India. With a keen eye for cinematic detail and a knack for insightful critiques, Sumeet brings a unique perspective to the world of Indian cinema. Follow him for the latest Bollywood insights and unbiased film reviews. #FilmCritique #BollywoodReviewer