Shiddat

Kunal Deshmukh's 2021 Indian film sets two ideas of love against each other. Jaggi gives himself over completely and recognises no limits, while Kartika plans her life and thinks about her marriage and her career together. He sets out to stop her wedding, and the film presents that obsessive effort as both romantic and uncomfortable. A secondary story follows a couple married much longer, whose weariness works as a mirror to the younger pair's fervour. The film belongs to the grand-gesture tradition of Indian popular cinema, but does not leave its hero's persistence entirely unquestioned. It went straight to a streaming platform and its songs drew attention separately from the film. Who it's for: viewers who like intense romantic drama and Indian popular cinema. Who it's not for: anyone who does not find persistent pursuit and crashed weddings romantic; the film puts them at the centre.