Gustaakh Ishq review: A stellar cast holds together a screenplay that doesn't quite land

Starring Vijay Varma, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Naseeruddin Shah, Gustaakh Ishq delivers spark but just not enough fire!

Gustaakh Ishq review: Set in the year 1998 in purani Dilli,Gustaakh Ishq starts off like a beautiful, quaint and elegant shayari that would make one blush. Everyone here speaks in Urdu and blurts out poetry like it’s no big deal. It even looks as aesthetic as the clothes its debutant producer aka Manish Malhotra is known for making! The world of Gustaakh Ishq centers around Nawabuddin Saifuddin Rehman Rizvi(Vijay Verma), a young publisher who wants to do his best to keep his father’s printing press alive in an era of gossip news and ads that don’t make sense. 

He wants to give it the respect of only publishing good art, especially shayaris that people would love consuming and has an audience of its own. In order to do this, he makes his way to a town in Punjab where he meets his father’s long lost friend, Aziz Beg (Naseeruddin Shah). Aziz is a retired poet who has no intention of publishing his poems and so, his daughter, Minni aka Mannat(Fatima Sana Shaikh) asks Nawabuddin to give up on his hopes. But he doesn't back down so easily and comes up with a plan to slowly enter the old poet’s heart, but in the process, he deeply falls for Minni as well. 

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The movie’s music is composed by Vishal Bharadwaj who has collaborated with none other than Gulzar sahab for the lyrics. On paper, Gustaakh Ishq has the best of everything. Right from the producer, to the cast, to the aces of the industry contributing to it, and yet it proves that if the core of it all, which is the story, isn’t as convincing, it all just falls flat! From plot twists that either feel conveniently placed or simply not intriguing enough to back stories of characters that just leave you questioning a lot of things, the story fails to stand out amidst the ocean of content that we have today. 

But for a second, if I keep the layers of Gustaakh Ishq’s plot aside and talk about the film on its face value, which is the cast, then I’d give credit where it's due and say that the actors do the best that they can with their characters. There’s no such thing as a bad Vijay Varma performance and he proves that yet again as Nawabuddin. He is ambitious, romantic, poetic and carries pain when he has to. Fatima Sana Shaikh not only looks stunning in her kurtas but also brings a lot of grace to the film through her character. Their chemistry together is enough for sparks to fly in a romantic drama, especially one set in a time where dating apps weren’t a thing. But just when you start investing your emotions in them, the film takes a rather confusing turn. Naseeruddin Shah as Aziz Beg is the most complicated character out of the three. While he gives an impactful performance, his character makes you feel conflicted on so many levels.

And that’s exactly how I’d describe Gustaakh Ishq to someone - conflicting. It had potential to be our Little Women or Pride and Prejudice but the execution stumbles immensely. There are performances that hold your attention and then there’s a rather forgettable climax. Hence, leading to the conflict of what this movie really wants to say and what it wants us to feel. 

Gustaakh Ishq is currently playing at a theatre near you!

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