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Love in the times of arranged marriage

Suparn Verma

Nagesh Kukunoor and Rajshri Nair in Hyderabad Blues. Click for bigger pic!

Hyderabad Blues starts off as being about another story about an NRI who returns home to find everything changed. But it ends up as a delightful comedy.

Varun returns home after 12 years to Hyderabad and is suddenly thrown into a spin as he realises that he simply cannot adjust to his once familiar surroundings. As Varun tries to strike a balance, relatives, daughter-laden neighbours and a very curious milkman are constantly pestering him about his marriage plans.

He finds peace only with friends Sanjeev (Vikram Inamdar) and Harish (Anoop Rao), and soon realises that the change is within him and not in those around him. Things worsen when even Sanjeev agrees to an arranged marriage. While Varun is warding off proposals for an arranged marriage, he meets Ashwini (Rajshri Nair), a self-made doctor.

After several rejections, Varun finally manages to woo Ashwini, but differences in their thinking lead to a spilt. Ashwini's widowed mother emotionally blackmails her into getting married. A petulant Varun agrees to okay the first proposal that comes his way, his only condition being that the marriage should take place on the same day and opposite the same venue as Ashwini's. The lovers reunite, still undecided which part of the world to settle in.

The low budget film lacks technical finesse, but covers a lot of mistakes with some inventive dialogues and screenplay. The characters are well etched and quite engaging. The surprise package of the film is Vikram Inamdar, who has done a magnificent job of an easygoing guy whose unquestioningly accepts things, annoying the protagonist time and again.

Hyderabad Blues is very different from the genre typified by the critical English August, spending less time in making cracks at the Indian culture, instead trying to strike a balance and keeping clear of controversies. RELATED FEATURE:
The USP is Indian-ness