Meet Cute review: Heartwarming conversational shorts about modern-day relationships

Meet Cute review: Deepthi Ganta's film is a collection of short stories about modern-day relationships. It features Varsham Bollamma, Ashwin Kumar, Ruhani Sharma, Sathyaraj, Rohini, Adah Sharma and Akanksha Singh.

Meet Cute, from debutante writer-director Deepthi Ganta, is the third anthology to come from the Telugu industry this year. In what’s unarguably the most heartwarming anthology of the year, Meet Cute is one of those attempts that charms you with simple stories, and relatable characters. What if someone told you that some of the best conversations could happen with a stranger at some point in your life? Meet Cute is built on this idea about the strangest encounters turning into beautiful, meaningful relationships. This is the anthology of five conversational shorts where we see people open up to strangers and the result touches all the right chords.

A still from Deepthi Ganta's Meet Cute.

The best part about the anthology is that it talks about modern-day relationships, looks at them from the standpoint of different generations but it never tries to preach. The refreshing aspect of the storytelling is that each short has characters that are poles apart but still manage to connect and bond over certain aspects of life.

The first short for instance is about a boy and girl meeting over a blind date. The girl is least interested but is forced by her mother to meet the boy. The boy, on the other hand, is quite excited and tries too hard to make an impression. Deepthi’s take on modern-day dating offers a very interesting insight into how much the process has evolved over the years. Both Varsha and Ashwin play the parts effortlessly and really click as a pair.

In the second short, Deepthi pits characters from two different generations and how they view marriage. Ruhani Sharma plays Saroja while Sathyaraj plays Mohan Rao. They accidentally meet at a visa application centre and in no time get acquainted. Saroja is planning a trip to Europe with her schoolmates and she’s upset with the fact that her husband has been nagging her since she revealed her travel plan. As Mohan opens up about his late wife and the times she’d been upset with him over the most trivial things, Saroja gets to learn some important lessons about companionship in marriage. Once again, Deepthi touches upon some important aspects of marriage without getting into preaching mode. The performances feel so fresh and real. Sathyaraj really aces his part.

The third short beautifully explores the relationship between a son, his mother and the future daughter-in-law. It’s a refreshing take on strong women and how they deal with the most difficult situations in life. The scenes between Rohini and her future daughter-in-law are filled with humour and are equally emotional. It’s a beautiful short about a mother finally realizing how responsible her son has become and that it’s time to treat him as an adult. Rohini, as usual, is at her effortless best. Akanksha Singh is a revelation as she played a divorcee with a lot of maturity and unspeakable pain.

The remaining two shorts also have something very interesting to offer in terms of dealing with relationships. Deepthi is a filmmaker with a voice of her own and it’s going to be interesting to see how she evolves. Her debut project, Meet Cute is definitely an attempt that deserves a lot of praise, and to present such diverse takes on modern-day relationships really takes a lot of clarity and vision.