“Sarbala Ji” is an unnecessarily convoluted mess that becomes tedious in the first 15 minutes of this bland 150-minute film. It’s a dull comedy about two cousins, their love interests, mistaken identities, and a kidnapping. It’s a dull comedy about two cousins, their love interests, mistaken identities, and a kidnapping. Prepare to have your eardrums rattled while watching this annoying film, as the characters spend most of their screen time shouting at each other.
Directed by Mandeep Kumar and written by Inderjit Moga, “Sarbala Ji” (which means “young man” in Punjabi) is set in Punjab, India, in the early 1940s, before Punjab gained its independence in 1947. However, “Sarbala Ji” still contains references to British colonialism due to the involvement of some British military officers, making all Britons look like buffoons. In terms of narrative tone, the film is clearly intended to be a screwball romantic comedy similar to those released in the 1940s, but “Sarbala Ji” is mostly a mishmash of ideas mixed together and irritatingly portrayed.
Director: Mandeep Kumar
Writer: Inderjit Moga
Stars: Sargun Mehta, Gippy Grewal, Ammy Virk
“Sarbala Ji” opens with a wedding entertainer named Sucha (played by Gippy Grewal) performing at a wedding. He is an arrogant bachelor: he fancies himself the most attractive man in the room at any given time. Sucha also believes he will have no trouble finding a beautiful wife who meets his expectations.
During his wedding performance, one of the unmarried guests, named Rajjo (played by Sargun Mehta), winks at Sucha, who winks back. Sucha's wink offends many at the wedding, so an elderly guru approaches Sucha and tells her she can choose between two punishments. The guru says the first option is to be cursed with the inability to marry. Before the guru can say what the second option is, he suddenly collapses and dies.
Meanwhile, Sucha's cousin (who is also her best friend) is Gajjan (played by Ammy Virk), a shy bachelor who is afraid of getting married. Gajjan (who has four sisters and is her only brother) is a seamstress passionate about sewing. In terms of personalities, Sucha is an "alpha male," while Gajjan is a "beta male."
One day, Gajjan sees a beautiful woman named Pyaar "Pyaaro" Kaur (played by Nimrat Khaira) at an open-air market. Gajjan falls in love at first sight, but quickly overcomes his fear of marriage upon seeing Pyaaro. Gajjan strikes up a flirtatious conversation with Pyaaro and tells her they can leave this world after they get married. (That's an example of how awful the dialogue in "Sarbala Ji" is.)
Sucha sees Rajjo again as they walk down the street, but she plays hard to get. Sucha tells Rajjo she's beautiful. Rajjo's response: "Of course I'm beautiful. That doesn't give some Jatt the right to wink at me." Rajjo is often seen with her spoiled niece, about 10 or 11 years old, who makes it clear that she doesn't like Sucha.
There's also an irritating supporting character named Daara (played by Raj Buttar), whose high-pitched voice is about as pleasant as listening to a squealing audio track. Daara's sole purpose in the film is to be a jerk. For example, after Daara learns of Sucha's curse against "no marriage," she gloats when she tells him, "I'm getting married, unlike you, who'll be a bachelor for life."
Gujjan and Pyaaro start dating, fall in love, and plan to get married. However, things go awry when Gujjan is kidnapped by a gang of dacoits, led by Sardar Singh (played by Guggu Gill), and Sucha takes drastic measures (leading to mistaken identity) to make the wedding go as planned. Gujjan and Pyaaro discover that Rajjo and Pyaaro have a completely predictable connection.
The disastrous acting in "Sarbala Ji" is sometimes unbearable. The musical numbers are mediocre. And much of the film is simply a silly bore, with chase scenes and emotionally immature characters shouting at each other in absurd conversations. Instead of worrying about the ending of “Sarbala Ji,” many viewers will stare at the nearest stopwatch, worrying only about when this abomination of a film will end.
FunAsia Films released “Sarbala Ji” in select theaters in the U.S. and in India on July 18, 2025.
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