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Double XL movie poster: Leads Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi try and squeeze through a doorway, shopping bags in hand.

Common Sense Says
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Common Sense Media Review

Indian comedy-drama promotes body positivity amid fatphobia.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Frequent fatphobic language. Curse words like "screw" and "bloody hell." Slut-sh

A character is portrayed as a typical "stoner." They are seen smoking cannabis i

Visuals of eating disorders and binge eating. Reference to the death of a parent

Characters flirt and fall in love. References to arranged marriage. In one scene

Brand placements for British Airways, Big Moe's Diner, and the hotel chain Shang

Any Positive Content?

Embrace and be proud of how you look, no matter your size. Talent is more import

Rajshri Trivedi is an aspiring sports presenter from a small town who wants to m

Fat women are the central characters and there are plenty of important messages

Frequent fatphobic language. Curse words like "screw" and "bloody hell." Slut-shaming comments. Subtitles mis-translate Hindi words for "fat/fatness" to "obese/obesity." This makes some dialogue confusing and fatphobic for non-Hindi speakers.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A character is portrayed as a typical "stoner." They are seen smoking cannabis in many scenes. The song "Taali Taali" glorifies drinking. The hook line translates to "don't stop the flow of booze" as characters drink shots, dance in a bar, and then walk on the streets in a drunken state. In another scene, all characters are seen drinking at a dinner party and the "stoner" smokes cannabis from a hookah.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Visuals of eating disorders and binge eating. Reference to the death of a parent.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Characters flirt and fall in love. References to arranged marriage. In one scene, a character wearing only a blanket hides on a balcony and another character yanks the blanket off, but no nudity is seen. A packet of condoms is delivered to a character's house.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brand placements for British Airways, Big Moe's Diner, and the hotel chain Shangri-La.

Positive Messages

Embrace and be proud of how you look, no matter your size. Talent is more important than looks.

Positive Role Models

Rajshri Trivedi is an aspiring sports presenter from a small town who wants to make it big but faces challenges at every step. She stands up to the unrelenting fat-shaming by her family and prospective employers, and ultimately finds a way to land her dream gig with help from her friends. She manages to have empathy for her biggest critic, her own mother, and helps her understand that the way their bodies look should have no bearing on the love they share. Saira Khanna is a designer who wants to make clothes for all bodies. She befriends Rajshri at her lowest moment and helps build up her self-confidence. Shrikanth and Zorawar, who are romantically interested in Rajshri and Saira respectively, never mention their weight. To them, these are talented, extraordinary women and their fatness doesn't even warrant a comment.

Diverse Representations

Fat women are the central characters and there are plenty of important messages around body positivity. Shrikanth's character plays into some South Indian stereotypes but his beautiful songs that feature a combination of Tamil and Hindi make up for it. The cast and crew are majority Indian, although much of the film takes place in London.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents need to know that Double XL is an Indian comedy-drama with strong messages about body positivity, challenging prejudice toward fat people so often seen in society. The two leads are Rajshri ( Huma Qureshi ) and Saira ( Sonakshi Sinha ) who learn to celebrate their "fatness." Both are shown to be successful career women but face instances of fatphobia including a fraught mother-daughter dynamic, which accurately reflects the reality of Indian society where a woman's weight determines her prospects in life. There are visuals of eating disorders and binge eating, which may be triggering to some. A character frequently smokes cannabis and later opens up about struggling with a parent's death. There is also drinking with some drunkenness depicted. As the story plays out, Rajshri and Saira resolve their traumas and embrace themselves with the help of two love interests who see beyond their body size and treat them with the respect and kindness they deserve. The film is Hindi with English subtitles, though the translation of some of these subtitles are confusing and fatphobic. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Double XL: Two Indian women sitting on a bench.

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What's the Story?

DOUBLE XL tells the tale of two women as they try to mend their relationship with food and their bodies. While Rajshri ( Huma Qureshi ) struggles to battle misogyny and avoid an arranged marriage, Saira ( Sonakshi Sinha ) keeps getting hurt in romantic relationships with men who don't respect her. Both of them lose career opportunities because of fatphobia, but when they band together, their support leads each other to success.

Is It Any Good?

The Indian comedy-drama sets out to change the world, but forgets to populate its story with enough novelty to keep the audience engaged. The pace of Double XL wavers frequently, Zaheer Iqbal as Zorawar is hammy and irritating, and Qureshi as Rajshri is burdened with carrying the entire movie on her shoulders. The subtitles are also a hack job, mis-translating important conversations by using "overweight/obese/obesity" when the Hindi words actually meant "fat/fatness." This really takes away from the movie for non-Hindi speakers. What's more, for a movie that spends a considerable portion of its time prepping the launch of a fashion line, the clothes are atrocious. This frumpiness takes away from the satisfaction and euphoria the audience could have felt at the climax. Spending 128 minutes pontificating about fatphobia while making all their fat characters wear ugly clothes defeats the purpose. Though the movie is certainly enjoyable in parts, fat women deserve better representation.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what Double XL had to say about our bodies. What do you understand the term " body positivity " to mean? Why is it important to be kind to ourselves with regard to how we look? How does fatphobia affect fat people's mental health and confidence?

The film touches upon eating disorders. How can one recognize disordered eating? Where can you seek help if you or someone you know is struggling?

How did some of the characters display teamwork , perseverance , compassion , empathy , and courage ? Why are these such important life skills to have?

How was drinking and drug use depicted in the film? Were they glamorized? Why does that matter?

Movie Details

In theaters : November 4, 2022
On DVD or streaming : December 28, 2022
Cast : Huma Qureshi , Sonakshi Sinha , Zaheer Iqbal
Director : Satramm Ramani
Inclusion Information : Indian/South Asian directors, Female actors, Indian/South Asian actors, Female writers, Indian/South Asian writers
Studio : AA Films
Genre : Comedy
Topics : Friendship , Music and Sing-Along
Character Strengths : Compassion , Courage , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 128 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
Last updated : October 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Double XL (2022) Movie Review: A Journey of Self-Discovery and a Story of Acceptance

“Double XL,” released in 2022, is a relatable and light-hearted story that unfurls how the real and reel lives assess people on the basis of their physical outlook. The importance of female friendship, humane assets, the journey of self-discovery, an empathetic attitude, and mastering the mysteries of the unfair world is narrated endearingly, injecting an ample dose of body positivity by the director, Satram Ramani.

This is not just the reel life of Saira Khanna and Rajshri Trivedi but the real-life story of many residing within the double XL sizes and double-dashing dreams, yet disconnected from the mainstream and drifted apart to their own body-sized hemispheres of life. Rajshri Trivedi (Huma Qureshi) and Saira Khanna (Sonakshi Sinha) go through similar phases owing to their double size physical appearance. Rajshri Trivedi, a healthy girl hailing from Meerut, aspires to be a sports presenter. Her family, especially her mother, is in pursuit of a suitable boy for her.

Although she tries to get shortlisted for the channel interview, they hire people based on their physical appearance and body weight. The ambitious designer Saira Khanna faces rejection on the work front and in her relationships just because of her body weight. The two double-troubled women happen to come across each other in Delhi and realize the fact that they can be of mutual help in some ways.

Saira desperately needs a director for a fashion shoot in London for which Rajshri is qualified. Seeing the reels made by Rajshri, Saira feels she is capable of her requirements. Rajshri wants to escape from the matrimony queries and findings, so she joins Saira for her London mission. Along the way, they befriend two interesting boys who understand and stand by them despite the societal concerns about body mass and external outlook. Rajshri is attracted to a budding cinematographer, Shrikant (Mahat Raghavendra).

Shrikant remains a source of inspiration and encouragement for her to follow and achieve her dream despite all the disturbing thoughts on body weight. When she is on the verge of giving up her dream, Zorawar Rahmani ( played by Zaheer Ikbal), nicknamed Zo/Za/Zu, a line producer, also helps them materialize their dreams. Rajshri gets a chance to interview Kapildev and gets her dream job as a sports presenter. Saira also becomes successful by starting her own brand that fits all size people.

Body shaming has become a part and parcel of real as well as digital life. Society is driven by the external ‘zero size’ appearance, flaunting thin body shapes in fashion shows, movies, and gatherings. People are profoundly shamed on the grounds of their skin color, body mass index, height, and dress code. “Double XL” manifests body shaming on many occasions, highlighting the undue significance society has attributed to body weight.

The movie’s opening scene shows Rajshri lying in bed, dreaming of a fancy fete. She is asked by the cricket star Shikhar Dhawan to dance with him. Her dream is interrupted by the crackling voice of her mother demanding her to wake up. Her mother somehow wants to fix her marriage and suggests she do some cardio to impress the guy and his parents. Rajshri is pretty sure that marriage is not her primary aim, and she is not ready at this juncture.

She proves the suitable matches brought by her mother are the most unsuitable ones for her. The movie shows her interaction with her prospective bridegroom over a cup of tea and a piece of Kachori. The guy, Tito, feels she is extra healthy and can’t be a better match for him. Rajshri clarifies that she is overweight and he is underweight.

When she expresses her yearning to become a sports presenter, Tito enlightens her by saying that she must lose weight because the rest of the world is an idiot like him. Rajshri does not come under the standard body image society has attributed to the female personas in order to be assessed by the male gaze. Rajshri’s dignity is humiliated by his comment. It does not demotivate her from chasing her long-cherished desire to become a sports presenter.

Saira Khanna from Delhi, born in London, is an aspiring fashion designer. Her passion for fashion makes her argue and fight with people even on the subtle mistakes in the size of clothes. Her lip ring and green streaks never give her a chance to escape from the eyes, visually gazing at her non-zero-sized image. She even teaches the storekeeper about the size and variety of clothes. Things take a different turn when Saira gets to know that a company is interested in investing in her journey to begin her own fashion brand.

Saira shares this with her flirty boyfriend, who considers her as a means of money and sex. She is a piece of an oversized mattress in the view of Viren’s friends. Moreover, Viren is in a relationship with another lady while courting Saira. She catches him red-handedly. A dejected Saira takes time to come out of the worthless relationship. In the heat of the moment, she accepts the company’s offer and befriends Rajshri. Their passion and bigger dreams in the bigger bodies slowly and steadily establish an impeccable bond with each other. Both of them have emerged triumphant in the way they wanted to become, not by mending them to the demands of society.

Rajshri is not chosen as a sportscaster just because of her body size; many are selected for open auditions because of their thin appearance. Even if they are not talented, their external appearance is capable of masking them. The definition of beauty carries a toll on the lives of many who don’t even know the reason behind their obese or skinny appearance. Life takes a different turn for Rajshri and Saira in London. Rajshri gets a chance to meet and interview Kapil Dev. He appreciates her talent.

The definition of standard and quality is determined by the hotness and skin fit image established by some standards guys. In childhood also, these people face the same issue of identity crisis. The vicious cycle of body shaming weighs down some people. In the film, Saira says, “I am fat, and I still look hotter than you girls, and I can be a designer, sports presenter, Doctor, CEO, Lawyer, or Actor. I will be whole over. I want to be and still be obese because you don’t feed me”.

Saira is more confident than others as she is least bothered by her body and societal concerns. Through Saira’s words, Rajshri also tries to be confident. They both order food items and say that ‘food is their best friend ‘. In an instant, Saira says that she streaked her hair, pierced her ears, nose, and lips, and got a big tattoo to cover her obesity, but the world only found her obesity. These dialogues from the film exhibit how body weight is given undue prominence to dishearten individuals in society.

Rajshri and Saira talk to the models while sitting in front of a school and see a lot of teachers who are the real role models. But no one makes them models as they don’t meet the so-called body expectations. They try to console each other by saying how food has evolved to be their best friend over time and how they try not to get in tune with society’s perception of body images and Barbie doll figures.

Toys and playthings tend to infuse the feeling of gender and other racial prejudices existing in society. It’s hard to get rid of the societal thinking, but one should strive for it. Unnecessary comparisons often lead to confrontations, and it can even cause anxiety and mental depression. Saira designs clothes for every body type, especially for people criticized for their body size. Her designs become popular, and every body type gets a chance to showcase their talent. The ideal consumer in society is a thin one, and this creates tension in plus-size women. Saira, too, faces the same problem at the outset in the shop as she does not get the dress size matching her.

Saira designs amazing dresses for plus-sized women. Atul Chabra sees Rajshri’s video about interviewing Kapildev, and she bags her dream job as a sports presenter. She tells her mother she has won the bet when she returns home. She mentions that her mother tries to hide her obesity, seeing that as a weakness. Ultimately, the movie portrays a fashion show with Saira’s plus-sized models, including Rajshri. Saira makes a speech in that launch about her life with the double trouble of double size in appearance. She has been fashionable since her days as a kid. As Saira grew older, she learned that she had to change herself for fashion’s sake. The doll she played with was slim, and the cartoon princess she followed was also slim. She starts believing that to look gorgeous or be successful, one has to fit in a size.

These words of Saira ascertain how toys and cartoons influence children and society. For girl children, parents only brought them dolls, especially Barbies. Since its invention in 1959, the Barbie doll has been setting impracticable beauty standards, persuading many young girls worldwide to believe that being 5’9”, weighing about 50 kilos, having F-cup breasts, and sticking thin limbs is the way to go. It’s time to redefine the concept of beauty and Barbie doll appearance.

The film talks in detail about the double-sized body and its challenges. Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi face body shaming not only in reel lives but also in real lives. Body shaming is a constant evil in all domains across the globe. Movies cater to an audience whose mindset is already imprinted with the idea that ‘slim and tall’ is the perfect body type.

The film acknowledges the importance of health in day-to-day life, and mental peace should not be overlooked. “Double XL” will make one analyze the importance and consideration the present generation bestows upon body weight and physical appearance. Rajshri Trivedi and Saira Khanna undergo a sea of change into ‘something rich and strange’ towards the film’s end. Satram Ramani has succeeded in deciphering the diverse shades of human relations through the subject of body weight. The movie shares a boundless message with an outstanding climax. “Double XL” is fundamentally a story of acceptance.

One must be accepting of one’s family members with the character and outlook they possess. The family members need not aspire for ‘zero size’ or ‘Miss India’ to feel proud of them. A person has to be accepted and acknowledged by the way they are in society. Gender, race, caste, creed, or body size should not clip one’s wings from soaring high in the sky of cherished desires.

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The journey of two plus-size women Rajshree Trivedi from Meerut and Saira Khanna from New Delhi as they navigate society's beauty standards.
A story about two women who navigate through life, embracing body positivity and celebrating female friendship; and breaking the myth that beauty corresponds to size, a belief that our society has held for generations. Two plus size women, one from the heartland of Uttar Pradesh and the other from the urban New Delhi, discover themselves and realise their dreams.
A story about two women Saira Khanna (Sonakshi Sinha) & Rajshri Trivedi (Huma Qureshi) who navigate through life, embracing body positive image and celebrating female friendship; and breaking the myth that beauty corresponds to size, a belief that our society has held for generations. Rajshri lives with father (Kanwaljeet Singh) & mother (Alka Kaushal) & grandmother (Shobha Khote) in Meerut. Rajshri has dreams of being a sports presenter for a sports channel in New Delhi. For her ambition, and her plus size, her marriage proposal keeps getting rejected by all prospective boys. she gets an interview for the role of a sports presenter in Delhi. Her mother is vehemently against sending Rajshri to Delhi, without marriage. But Rajshri convinces her that this is her childhood dream, and she should be allowed to pursue it. Her mother agrees but wants her to stay in Delhi with her sister Roli Mausi (Swati Tarar) & Mausaji (Jagat Rawat). Saira is a designer based in Delhi. Meera (Dolly Singh) is Saira best friend and Saira is dating Viren (Danish Pandor). Meera feels Viren is not good enough or even smart enough for Saira. Viren is an aspiring model, and at a party Saira hears his other model friends comment that Viren is with Saira because she is a designer. They refer to her as an oversized mattress. Saira lives with her brother Saurabh Khanna (Sachin Shroff), who has just helped her get her fashion travelogue approved by a major fashion channel. The location is London, and it will be shot by Viren's friend, who will work for her for free. But then Saira catches Viren cheating on her and suddenly she doesn't have a director for her shoot. Meanwhile Rajshri is rejected at her interview for being too fat. She wants to meet the owner of the channel, but he is in London, travelling with the Indian cricket team. Saira and Rajshri are in the same building at that time and meet in the bathroom, weeping and feeling sorry for themselves as their dreams lie in tatters. Saira realizes that Rajshri had shot her own videos of her doing sports newscasts, for her video applications for job interviews. Saira recruits Rajshri as director for her fashion travelogue, which is to be shot in London. This way Rajshri has a chance to meet the channel owner Atul Chhabra. Shrikant Shreevardhan (Mahat Raghavendra) is their cameraman. Rajshri moves in with Saira to prepare for their London shoot. They get their visas done and pack their luggage. Zorawar Rehmani (Zaheer Iqbal) is the team's driver & line producer in London. Zorawar hits on Saira, while Shrikant has a thing for Rajshri. Zorawar tells Saira that out of the 15 locations she shortlisted for the shoot, only 2 fit in her budget. So, he plans to use the entire city of London as his location for the shoot. Rajshri tells Zorawar about how Viren broke Saira's heart. Zorawar is impressed with Rajshri's cricketing knowledge and promises her a meeting with Atul Chhabra. Zorawar helps Saira by convincing to pose as models and uses the city's backdrops as canvas for her shoots. Zorawar gets Rajshri a 30 mins meeting with Kapil Dev. The only catch was that Zorawar had lied that Rajshri was doing this to support an orphanage of 150 kids. The interview with Kapil goes really well. Kapil had figured out that she had no orphanage but went ahead with the interview as he was really impressed with Rajshri's cricket knowledge and insights. That night the group gets drunk and runs into Atul Chhabra (Jimmy Sheirgill) waiting for a cab in front of his hotel. They manage to give a copy of Rajshri's interview with Kapil to Atul, but Shrikant realizes that he copied the wrong file, and all Atul has is Rajshri's clip of being drunk and dancing like a maniac. As the group gets depressed, Saira thinks about her past life and remembers how real women in life are never made role models. She has an epiphany and decides to change her entire photo-shoot to be geared towards real (bus driver, schoolteacher, mom), plus sized women. during the shoot, Saira sprains her ankle and Zorawar pulls out all the stops to take care of his lady. Meanwhile Rajshri's mom has found a match for her in Meerut and pressures her to say yes. Rajshri pleads that she is working, but her mother won't budge. Rajshri feels broken and shattered but Shrikant encourages her to continue going. The photo shoot with plus size models is a major hit. The models love the fact that clothes have been designed for them. The shoot wraps up and Zorawar invites the entire team to his home for dinner with his mother (Niki Aneja Walia). Zorawar professes his love for Saira. Atul calls Rajshri and says he watched her interview with Kapil (which was uploaded by Shrikant to twitter). Atul apologizes for his company policies that prioritizes looks over knowledge. He offers her the job of hosting the next cricket show on his channel. The duo returns to India, and Rajshri tells her mother that she is signing a Rs 25 Lakhs contract to host the biggest cricket show in India and that she will not compromise and get married for a domestic life. Saira hosts a fashion show with plus size models. She announces her intention to create a design label that makes every woman comfortable with her shape and size. Saira hooks up with Zorawar and Rajshri accepts Shrikant in her life.

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Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi in Double XL (2022)

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Double XL Review: All Dressed Up with Nowhere To Go

Director: Satram Ramani Writers: Sasha Singh, Mudassar Aziz Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Huma Qureshi, Zaheer Iqbal, Mahat Raghavendra

Every time I open an empty Word document after watching a substandard Hindi film – or, actually, a ‘bad’ Hindi film (if there’s one thing that Double XL taught me, it’s to not sugarcoat politically incorrect terms) – a single question echoes through my wounded mind: “Where do I begin?” It’s not an unusual reaction to have. But I often wonder if it’s a line worth typing in a review – because it’s so rudimentary, so plain, so unbecoming of a film critic sitting down to dissect a movie. Yet, for music lovers in particular, there’s another pressing problem with this line: It’s impossible to think of without singing it to the tune of Andy Williams’ famous Love Story song ( Where do I begin / To tell the story of how flawed a film can be? ) You get the gist. My belief is that if I sing this anthem in my head and keep paraphrasing, perhaps the review won’t be as basic as the film itself.

This cheap thrill – or brain fart, actually, who am I kidding? – has everything and nothing to do with Double XL , which is not the first mainstream Bollywood film to be so chuffed with its (socially significant) theme that its design becomes a distant afterthought. The premise revolves around two overweight young women who join forces to take on this body-shaming world. There’s Rajshri Trivedi ( Huma Qureshi ), an aspiring sports presenter from Meerut whose dreams feature ballroom dances with cricketer Shikhar Dhawan; Rajshri shoots and edits her own videos in the hope of getting noticed some day. And there’s Saira Khanna ( Sonakshi Sinha ), a funky Delhi-based fashion designer who dreams of starting her own label.

Their professions, as you might notice, aren’t exactly rooted in notions of inner beauty. Again, not the worst idea on paper. Rajshri travels to Delhi to interview with a top channel, but is rejected on the basis of her size. Saira catches her very Delhi boyfriend cheating, and so for some roundabout reason finds herself without a director for a fashion video she’s slated to make in London. This is when their paths cross – in a washroom of all places, with both of them howling their guts out. And voila, just like that, Rajshri agrees to be Saira’s director, and Saira becomes Rajshri’s ticket to London so that she can confront the CEO of the sports channel and prove her worth. Completing their team of misfits is a weed-loving Tamil cameraman named Srikanth (Mahat Raghavendra) and a flirty Muslim line producer named Zoravar (Zaheer Iqbal). I’m not sure if the message is that birds of a marginalized feather flock together, but if so, the problems with Double XL start with its oblivious gaze.

For a film that positions itself as sensitive and authentic (especially with the cast), it is frightfully detached from reality. For starters, the presence of a male director (Satram Ramani) and co-writer (Mudassar Aziz) means that nearly everything comes from a space of social appropriation. The two women – with their “condition” – are presented the way humans look at animals: with a curious mix of apathy and sympathy. As per the norms of a culture afraid of confronting its own double standards, humour becomes a cheap front for insight. Most of their moments are played for sound-cued comedy, as if to say: If we can fat-shame ourselves, you won’t need to. In her first scene, Saira tears an XL dress in a trial room. In her second scene, Rajshri debunks the term “healthy” and chastises a small-town male suitor. The only half-decent quip features a Dum Laga Ke Haisha nod; the mother taunts Rajshri’s eating habits, wondering if even Ayushmann Khurrana will marry her.

Even their sadness is fetishized. In the washroom scene where they meet, the two converse through cartoonish sobs. When Saira catches her boyfriend red-handed, the moment is diffused – through a girl stranded naked in the balcony – on the brink of seriousness. When Saira is heartbroken, the camera first titillates us with a slew of empty food boxes before revealing her kebab-roll-stuffed face. At different points in the film, we see packets of chips and burgers and shakes – even alcohol and weed and, well, slim women who smoke at house parties – through the lens of vacant comedy. When Saira and Rajshri reach that unapologetic screw-society stage in London, they speak to each other in stand-up punchlines rather than actual words. They are also shown eating pizza crusts while watching Fashion TV to drive home the revolution.

The issue with Double XL is that it genuinely seems to believe that it’s the first movie ever to explore the prickly relationship between body weight, self-confidence and societal scrutiny. For instance, Saira’s decision to become an inclusive fashion stylist (“one size for all bodies”) is framed as the sort of brainwave that might put Isaac Newton and his apple to shame. Has nobody met the internet? Evidently not, from the way Rajshri randomly lands an interview with Kapil Dev, whose movie-cameo career has reached a point where nothing less than long-haired-rockstar silhouette shots will do. Needless to mention, montage-like music drowns out this career-making chat, because scripting a neat sports interview would require the sort of research that might have made Saira’s clothes – and fashion line – look more human(e). It would also require the kind of knowledge that allows the film to distinguish between presenter (anchor) and cricket commentator. Rattling off Rohit Sharma’s statistics is as deep as the writing goes to reveal Rajshri’s passion. But phrases like “most popular sports show in India” are par for the course in this film. One language for all words, I suppose.

Fortunately, or not, this ignorance extends to the world at large. A British server at a fast food outlet speaks as if he’s putting on a fake British accent. The team is on a limited budget in London (from whatever network greenlights “fashion label videos”), but live in a pretty boutique hotel by a lake so that they can stare at said lake during introspective moments. When they visit Zoravar’s ‘humble’ home for a dinner where Srikanth breaks into a Tamil song to offset the Urdu vibe, they arrive by speedboat no less. The romantic tracks are some of the most forced in recent history, defined solely by men giving women the push to succeed in life.

Which brings me to those men, whose brief seems to be: Imagine if a Rajpal Yadav character were not a Rajpal Yadav character. There’s Zoravar, the A-grade creep who makes rape jokes in a hospital but is supposed to be Saira’s knight in cross-cultural armour. He delivers a “not all guys'' monologue to her seconds after jokingly threatening to exploit her. He wins over Saira by placing life-size cutouts of her all over his quaint cottage – a red flag not as blatant as his annoying catchphrase (“Zo Zee Zaa”), which suggests that the film thinks he’s a charming fellow. Srikanth, for his part, delivers an endless emo monologue about how his father never lived to see him become a cinematographer, but the dubbing of his dialogue throughout the film suggests that he might have been better off as a sound designer. The way London is shot, too, reminded me of the glorified Swedish tourism advert that was Jia Aur Jia (2017), another tacky female-buddy dramedy starring two capable actresses. I had opened that review with: I have so much to say. Which is more or less the spiritual prelude to: Where do I even begin?