Movie Review : Love Per Square Foot (2018)

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 13 minutes
Director : Anand Tiwari
Cast : Vicky Kaushal, Angira Dhar, Ratna Pathak Shah, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Raghuvir Yadav
Kid rating : G

For folks in the US, Netflix India’s original content is showing up on here now. Love Per Square Foot is Netflix’s first movie in India. Its a rom-com with non-commercial, not-so-well-known faces : Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar. Kaushal was the male lead in Masaan and is set to appear in the Alia Bhatt starrer Raazi, while Dhar is debuting.

Here’s the setup: Sanjay Chaturvedi and Karina D’Souza work at the same company, and long for homes of their own. Neither has enough money to afford one on their own in expensive Mumbai, so when they hear of a housing scheme for married couples, they decide to apply for it together – after all what are the chances that they will indeed get it (its a semi-lottery), and then marital details can be decided upon (or so they think). Their friendship/love fizzles, but the housing scheme contract still binds them. Uncomfortable situation this.

This is the kind of movie that should appeal to me – decent plot, good actors, reasonable pacing etc., but unfortunately I’m kind of wishy-washy about it. A rom-com need a personable (read good-looking; yes, I’m being shallow  🙂 ) hero and heroine. While Dhar is peppy and cute and easy on the eyes, why are we (the female viewers) stuck with Kaushal? He’s a great actor, and was fabulous in Masaan (where he was well-cast), but here he just doesn’t fit into the romantic hero mould. I would liken him, in physical looks, to Ajay Devgan, but Devgan has the force of his personality to carry him through.

Also I had major issues with his character: Sanjay is having an affair on the side with his whiny, self-serving, already-in-a-relationship boss. He comes across as a bit of a calculating opportunist, not as one would wish he would, i.e.; a dependable, reliable kind of guy. Karina on the other hand I really liked – a nice, sweet girl – too good for Sanjay.

So, you get it – I didn’t like the romantic pairing in this romance. But here are somethings that I did: both the fabulous Pathak sisters – Ratna Pathak Shah and Supriya are in this film as the moms. There is also Raghuvir Yada (we saw him in Newton recently) in a small role as Sanjay’s harmonium-playing dad, facing imminent retirement from his Indian Railways job. The music is pretty decent – I especially liked the song Aashiyana.

“Love Per Square Foot” is tepid at best; watch only in desperate circumstances.

Kidwise: Clean.