There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. Is that a cliche? Or is it just an old truth that can be used to describe countless well-intentioned films that end up being wishy-washy? Fact is, Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani is a film that tries to tell the quintessential love story with the presumably ‘woke’ setting of a guy meets guy instead of a guy meets girl. Everything that we’ve seen in films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil Chahta Hai and many other romances, plays out in Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani, but with two men – Amar (Sunny Singh) and Prem (Aditya Seal). Just because we’ve not seen the London se leke Punjab tak ka pyaar with two men doesn’t mean it won’t feel jaded, watching it for the nth time. Also it doesn’t help that we just watched two lovers struggle to make their respective Punjabi and Bengali families come together (a prominent theme in this film) in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, just last year. So the novelty factor of Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani runs out thick and fast. And that’s never a good prospect for any film.

Persistent die-hard romantics would still want to know what the story of Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani is, perhaps. For those hopeless romantics, let’s quickly try to piece it together. Amar (Sunny) is a blue-eyed boy at the centre of a big Punjabi family living in a pind (village) in Punjab. Amar has half-a-dozen sisters who always shield and protect him from the ire of his grandfather (Tarsem Paul). He also has a protective Beeji (Baljinder Kaur) who keeps Amar’s Bauji at bay and lets the boy do whatever he wants. While the pind di kudiyan are lattoo over Amar’s machismo, his heart secretly wishes for love from the same gender. Only Amar has no clue how to break the news to his traditional family. Amar decides to jet off to London to blow off some steam (though it’s not really clear if that is the true intention) and enroute, at Delhi airport Amar runs into Prem (Aditya). It is in the ‘safer’ environs of London that the initial spark between Amar and Prem blossoms into love. Amar’s mama (Rajendra Sethi) and Prem’s bestie Elina (Diksha Singh) are the friends who help the leading men in sundry situations.

Wait, there’s a little bit more. Back in the pind, there’s Mandy (Pranutan Bahl) who aspires to be Amar’s wife. Halfway through the film we’re also introduced to Prem’s Bengali family led by his Momta dadi (Neeta Mahindra). The two men and their families have adventures and misadventures, all while a big fat Indian wedding promises to go kaput at any given moment. That’s the gist of this two-hour dramedy on Jio Cinema, trying to pack in every plot and subplot ever explored in Indian, romantic, family comedies.

The film’s screenplay oscillates between good and bad with marked consistency. So where you have genuinely funny moments from actors like Baljinder Kaur and Rajendra Sethi, the film always wants to engage in soppy exposition from Sunny Singh and Aditya Seal’s characters. At times, it feels like the film’s lead actors are spoon feeding the viewer instead of living their characters’ emotions. And that’s no fault of the actors. The editing just never comes together in this film, ever. Neither does the music, even though the choice of song in the climax is genuinely good.

There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Sunny Singh or Aditya Seal’s efforts in portraying two men in love, but they never come across as two individuals deeply in love. That Naina-Kabir type of YJHD spark is totally missing from Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani. Pranutan Bahl though delivers a wonderfully wicked performance, with a character that totally deserves her own spin-off story. Pity there’s little focus on her character Mandy and the chaos she courts. Diksha Singh, as the London friend is also a fresh find, but her character doesn’t have much to do.

If you’ve made it this far into the review chances are you’re starving for some R-n-R and have a rabid passion to watch a romantic comedy. If that’s the case you might want to perhaps consider other alternatives like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Or may be even watch Aditya Seal’s Khel Khel Mein or Sunny Singh’s Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety instead.

The body of a 10-year-old girl was found in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, triggering violent protests by locals, alleging her rape and murder. The police outpost was set ablaze, with demands for action against the delayed police response. An accused was arrested shortly after the complaint was lodged, and investigations are ongoing.