Movie review: 2 States is disappointing

Rohit Khilnani's Rating:

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In conversation with 2 States' actors Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor

From the characters they're playing in the film while breaking stereotypes, to the much senior actors they've shared screen space with, Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor tell all.

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Celebs attend Arjun-Alia's 2 States special screening

Arjun and Alia were looking ecstatic as they greeted friends and family for the special screening of their film which releases tomorrow.

We all think that we have interesting love stories, don't we? But Chetan Bhagat is one lucky guy! He gets to publish his love story and not just that, it's even made into a film for the world to watch and moreover, pay for it! How many would buy a ticket to watch it? I have no idea.

Like most love stories in India, the boy and the girl in 2 States are from different regions. Ananya Swaminathan (Alia Bhatt) is a Tamilian from Chennai and Krish Malhotra (Arjun Kapoor) is a Punjabi from Delhi. They bump into each other at the IIM Ahmedabad canteen. Ananya is fighting with the cook because she feels the sambar is not up to the mark and she wants one extra rasgulla which is not allowed. Standing right behind her is Krish who tells the cook to give his share of the sweet to her. Post that Ananya clings on to him like a magnet. She has no other friends, girls or boys, we don't know why! Still she wants to be friends with this average-looking nerd. Ananya is pretty and soon Krish confesses to her that he can't be 'just friends' and is expecting more from her. So she has an option of forgetting him or to start dating him, and it's no surprise that she chooses the latter.

Saurabh Dwivedi's review

The fun actually starts when they are introduced to each other's parents. As you must have seen in the promos, the Tamilian parents feel that the Punjabis are too loud and uncultured and the Punjabis don't like them for a lot of other reasons. Though I may agree with a lot of things, I am yet to meet a Punjabi parent who will use insensitive language to someone's face and say things like, "Tamilians gore bhi to nahi hote hain!"

Krish is a reserved chap and there is a justification to his reserved nature, he has seen enough domestic violence in his own house between his father Vikram Malhotra (Ronit Roy) and his mother Kavita Malhotra (Amrita Singh). Both Ananya and Krish want to marry each other but seek the blessings from their parents who are never on the same page.

The problem is that the movie is too long and moves at a very slow pace. Long conversations make it even more boring.

Here's what I enjoyed in Abhishek Varman's 2 States. Alia Bhatt came across as a total natural even though she was out of her comfort zone and playing a Tamilian for the first time. She was the most convincing in the film. Both the mothers, Amrita Singh and Revathy added all the fun that there is in Two States. Arjun Kapoor sleep walked through the scenes and was just not able to hold the film on his shoulders as one would expect from the lead actor of the film. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy was good and that helped pick up the pace each time the film dragged.

Two States is a well-packaged product with great posters and promos but the film is disappointing.