I happened to watch ‘Sweet Dreams’ (2025 film) starring Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar. I chose to watch it since I am a fan of both. The story clearly seemed to be ripped-off from some Hollywood movies, which is totally okay since every Indian movie, no matter how much resembles any international movie, always feels distinct, and better. What really disturbed me was the ending.
Both Mithila Palkar and Amol Parashar are unique and special, and it is really wonderful that they were made a pair in this film. Mithila Palkar appears as Mithila Palkar in every movie and yet has a mix of mystery, familiarity, and genuineness which makes the viewer want to watch her performances every time. Amol Parashar is such a natural actor that we can say that he was “born to act” (btw, he did B.Tech. from IIT Delhi before quitting his job to enter acting). He brings grace and dignity to every role he does. With such an amazing cast, the movie could have done wonders if the makers did not fall for the cliches.
The first thing I did not like was the “setup”. Dia (played by Mithila) was living with a guy without marriage and Kenny (played by Amol) was a serial dater who was so desperately looking for a girlfriend (or wife) after getting dumped by his ex, as if sky was to fall if he had to live alone any longer. We could understand his emergency if he was an old guy reaching expiry date for marriage, or an orphan who had no chance of getting a wife until he fished her out of a river. This whole setup reminded me of recent horrific murder case of a Mumbai gurl by her live-in partner. The movie makers thought that just because the film had to be released on OTT, they had to provide the right (immoral) setup, which was ridiculous.
Secondly, the movie lacked side stories and ran straight from one pillar to the other like a documentary. Songs were good but felt wasted when the makers did not even try to make the best out of this film.
The worst thing I liked about the movie was its ending. These days, it has become cliché to leave the stories “open ended”. No matter how much “open” the ends are, we can clearly see which ways the ends can go. So, why take the trouble? In this film, the writers forced Kenny (Amol) to leave Dia (Mithila) and go for Roop; another girl who was clearly very interested in Kenny without any reason. The movie did not explain why Roop was after Kenny as if he was her last chance of redemption. Whenever Roop looked at Kenny, it seemed she was both melting and burning from the inside. She so desperately wanted Kenny as if there was no other boy in the entire world. And she was so determined not to be seen desperate, that she appeared doubly desperate; and it was so insulting (for her). Kenny clearly did not like her, did not love her; all he needed was a friend, but he was getting a wife instead of a friend. It felt so unfair.
Despite tolerating whole movie and eagerly waiting for the climax, when the end finally arrived, it turned out to be anti-climax. It did not make any sense why Kenny and Dia decided to part ways with each other, just because they had got other options. Kenny was clearly feeling too sorry for Roop and hence he was looking for an escape; on the other hand Dia was just showing her lack of confidence and determination like she was showing all through the movie. After trying so hard to find each other, these two people had finally found each other, but then they started talking about unimportant things as if they were totally confused. It almost felt as if they had become content with the process to reach the goal and forgot why they were trying so hard all through.
If the movie makers had just played straight and united Kenny and Dia in the end, I won’t be feeling so upset and blaming the film so much. And Kenny and Dia would be living together, happily ever after. Now that the movie makers totally destroyed their friendship, their only hope is to find each other again, in dreams. Dreams are not so bad after all.
- Rahul
