Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is a respectable directing debut from Dhar, and a film with its heart in the right place. The writing ought to have been braver. That would’ve made this film something worth crowing about; a film as memorable as the one whose iconic romantic song inspired this title.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekhi Toh Aisa Laga concedes the unlikelihood of entertainment to change bigoted minds. When Sweety performs in Sahil’s play, we see disgusted and intolerant audiences get up and leave. Yet I was struck by the image of an old man, sobbing as he leans on the empty bench in front of him, reserved for VIPs who have left. There will be plenty who leave their seats unconvinced, but this film will make some wonder — many of whom may never have considered it. This could have been a bolder and more explicit film, but sometimes cinema should work like a street play. Sometimes we need to preach beyond the choir.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha... goads the audience to think differently without trying to deviate from its primary purpose, which is to deliver entertainment. It does the latter well enough and yet does not overly dilute its off-kilter vision. No mean feat that.    

What works for Dhar’s film are the honest performances, especially by the reliable Kapoor and Rao, who inject the film with energy. That energy is solely lacking in Kapoor Ahuja, who puts in a rather insipid performance as a young woman trapped in her identity and desperate for a way out. Not that the script affords her much, but even with what she has, she squanders the chance to depict the real struggle of women in small-town India and the prejudices they must deal with daily. She is the film’s weakest link, and the reason why this story falls short.

Sonam Kapoor and Anil Kapoor, along with writer Gazal Dhaliwal and director Shelly Chopra Dhar, deliver a brilliant lesbian love story that Bollywood should be proud of.

The underrated Abhishek Duhan is impeccable as Sweety's brother. But the lasting memory from Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is of Anil taking a scene that could have been maudlin, insufferable and loud, and turning it into a heart-wrenching passage of acceptance, self-realisation and personal growth. Ek Veteran Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga...

This one may not achieve what 3 Idiots did for parents of engineering students with non-technical passions. But it has the recipe for a light-hearted comedy. Also, it subliminally yet successfully sensitises audiences to the challenges endured by same-sex couples when surrounded by those who refuse to understand or accept them.

Ek Ladki moves along on the strength of its progressive theme and some fine performances. Typical Bollywood elements – quirky characters, peppy songs, posh settings, syrupy emotions – are cleverly turned around to encourage us to see love through a different lens. However, the 120-minute movie tries too hard to be funny and heartfelt at the same time (and sometimes in the same scene). The comic bits inspired by the source material always work better than the melodramatic portions.