Sundari Gardens review: This rom-com lacks freshness in romance & punch in comedy

The latest release of director Charlie Davis, Sundari Gardens, starts with a slow mellifluous melody that introduces all the main characters and gives us an idea about the pace of the story.

Sundari Sara Mathew/Suma (Aparna Balamurali) is a divorcee and a school librarian. She lives with her mother. She is not afraid of raising her voice when it comes to violence against women.

Her life takes a huge turn when she falls for her colleague Victor Paul (Neeraj Madhav), an English teacher. He is a happy-go-lucky person who is quite pleased with his life.

There are a couple of good melodies. “Naal Haritham” is my pick. But the very first issue I have with this film is the songs. They keep on coming. Sometimes, I wish to hear dialogues instead of songs.

It feels like Sundari Gardens is more of a music album with few scenes added to make a connection between the songs. The other flaw is the script. It is weak in a few scenes and was not handled very creatively.

Romance is one of the most common and tried-out genres. To make a romantic film, one needs to include fresh elements, to appeal to today’s viewers. Unfortunately, Sundari Gardens lacks that.

It is not a bad movie, but it is not a good movie either!

Lazy writing & poor comedy

Certain things work well, for instance, Suma’s character. We see a part of Suma’s life, decisions, slip-ups, flaws, and feelings. The character is decently written and well-performed.

The friendship between Suma and Mahi Mohan (Binu Pappu) is portrayed well, without going overboard. Another thing I was impressed with is that the script does not stereotype the divorced protagonist. But that’s it.

Everything else in the script is lazy writing. The story is old-fashioned. The scenes depicting Suma falling in love with Victor are an example of outdated presentation.

Our Sundari! ?

➡️ https://t.co/60doxKCCFB@Aparnabala2 @NeerajMadhavv #SalimAhamed @alphonsmusic #AllensMedia #CharlieDavis @SonyLIV #SundariGardens #SundariGardensOnSonyLIV pic.twitter.com/ve7YFw4fyG

— Sony Music South (@SonyMusicSouth) September 3, 2022

The comedy scenes are the laziest you would watch in any movie released this year. The visuals are good. Other technical aspects are decent.

Performance-wise, we have a wonderfully restrained Aparna Balamurali playing Suma. She makes the film worth watching, along with a brilliant and adorable Neeraj Madhav playing the role of Victor. Binu Pappu and Vijayaraghavan perform well in their short screen times.

I can see the good intentions of writer-director Charlie Davis, but the film is a long way from what it could and should have been. In all, Sundari Gardens is okay if you’re extremely hungry for films, but it’s not a must-watch!