Actor Kalidas Jayaram Calls 'Param Sundari' The Worst Movie

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Turns out, there is not let up in the barrage of criticism directed towards the 2025 Bollywood romantic drama Param Sundari, starring Siddharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor.

The movie has been widely criticised for stereotyping the south Indian state of Kerala, its people and its customs. And that prompted the Tamil and Malayalam actor Kalidas Jayaram, son of veteran actor Jayaram, to simply call it the "worst".

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Kalidas' views came on the Tamil podcast Irfan's View, when he was quizzed over a bad movie that he had recently watched. He didn't even bat an eyelid before listing the film.

"I'm saying openly, this movie was perhaps conceived to mock and poke fun at the culture, traditions and way of life of the state," he said in Tamil. "And I felt very bad (after watching it)."

Kalidas, the star of hits such as Vikram, Aashakal Aayiram and Raayan, didn't stop at that. "Don't even try to watch it," he told the podcast host Mohamed Irfan, who has interviewed celebrities such as Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran and the Oscar-winning musician AR Rahman, among others. "It is that bad."

Was 'Param Sundari' that bad?

Directed by Tushar Jalota and produced by Dinesh Vijan, the cross-cultural romcom Param Sundari managed to rile up social media from the time its trailer dropped online to its eventual theatrical premiere and more.

The movie showcased a typical love story, between a south Indian girl and a north Indian boy.

However, the Malayali community erupted on social media, calling it out for its rather lame portrayal of the state and not making efforts to get an authentic portrayal, be it Kapoor's diction, name, costumes and falling back on stock imageries.

Janhvi's character is introduced as Thekappatil Sundari Damodaran Pillai. Many vloggers and content creators have pointed out that such long-winded names are no longer in vogue in that state.

The movie also depended on other long-standing stereotypes, ranging from an obsession over boat racing, Kathakali dances and people climbing up coconut trees for no reason, for which it received its fair share of flak.

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