All too familiar

Gurnaaz Kaur

On the official day of love and romance, Kala Shah Kala can be your choice if you are a Punjabi movie fan. Written and directed by Amarjit Singh, this one has a lot of relatable points sans the disjointed-ness of it all. The story highlights the struggles of a dark-complexioned man Lovely, played by Binnu Dhillon, in finding love. After many rejections, as luck shines on him, he manages to get married to a beautiful girl Pammi (Sargun Mehta). Pammi, who loves Jaggi (Jordan Sandhu), is forced into the marriage as her parents disapprove of her relationship. 

While the first half of the film is pictured around the hardships he faces to get married, post interval it shifts to securing her love. It’s a no-brainer that the girl doesn’t find the unnaturally black (dark wouldn’t define the colour) man attractive and plays all tricks to get rid of him. So much so, she pretends to be possessed and scares the wits out of Lovely. In all the seriousness of the matter, there is dollop of jokes to make sure every scene makes the viewers laugh.

Even as the comic timing seems awry at times, both Sargun and Binnu have played their parts well. As Lovely finds out about his wife’s affair with Jaggi, he decides to let her go. Yes, just like Ajay Devgn in Hindi flick Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

To save her from social embarrassment, they finalise on the date after Pammi’s brother’s wedding. A soft corner for such a guy is natural and Pammi develops that. Here the quirky love triangle comes into focus as Jaggi is making every effort to earn the love of Pammi’s family by being the go-to man for the wedding preparations.

Busy outshing each other, Lovely and Jaggi both do their best to win Pammi. This might remind you of some other Bollywood film. Binnu’s innocence is palpable and Sargun’s conflicted mind too. Jordan Sandhu too seems convincing. Anita Devgan as Lovely’s aunt has a visible part in the film.

Karamjit Anmol and Harby Sangha as Lovely’s best friends are supportive but mostly silly. In fact, Lovely is the butt of their jokes, maybe unknowingly, thanks to his skin colour. 

Then comes the time to let love unite and heart-broken Lovely bids adieu to Pammi. Sounds familiar? Well, the closing scene will remind you of Ja simran ja, jee le apni zindagi, just that the part here is played by a lover and not father when he sees his beloved in love with someone else. This may even bring flashes of Manmarziyan to your mind or some other drama, but all is well that ends well. With some comedy here too, a heart of gold wins over the colour of skin.

This film, centred on the obsession for fair skin, has a message but the execution could have been better. With bygone era in the backdrop, one does relive the simplicity of village life.