Kalyani Priyadarshan’s homegrown Kerala superhero Lokah outshines Janhvi Kapoor's Param Sundari misstep

Dubai: While most Bollywood movie-mad fans are collectively balking at Janhvi Kapoor’s painful Malayalam accent and the gaudy Punjabification of Kerala in Param Sundari, back home Kerala cinema is showing us how it’s really done.

Kalyani Priyadarshan’s Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra is not just holding strong — it’s smashing box-office numbers. Most UAE shows are selling out, with nearly 90% occupancy, and attempts to book today’s Dubai screenings were proving near impossible.

Director Dominic Arun’s Lokah dares to do what Bollywood rarely does — reimagine local folklore and create an indigenous superhero universe. The film introduces Chandra (played with fiery poise by Kalyani), a mysterious young woman with a shadowy past who moves into a Bangalore apartment opposite two clueless bachelors. What starts off as a quirky, banter-heavy comedy soon plunges into darker, funkier territory — complete with cameos, action blocks, and even a swagger-filled Tovino Thomas appearance that electrifies the second half.

Despite some uneven VFX in the first half, Arun’s vision feels imaginative and distinctly rooted, with Kalyani’s Chandra anchoring it with stubbornness, swagger, and maturity. Naslen delivers his usual underdog charm, while Sandy as the antagonist brings a grounded menace. The result? A superhero film that’s flawed but fascinating, daring to build a franchise out of Kerala’s own myths and stories.

In short: while Param Sundari reduces Kerala to a tourism postcard, Lokah gives us a new kind of heroine — fierce, flawed, and unapologetically local.

Meanwhile, Param Sundari wants to be a glossy romcom with cultural flavour, but instead ends up as a garish tourism ad gone wrong. Sidharth Malhotra plays Param, a spoiled Punjabi brat dabbling in failed start-ups, while Janhvi Kapoor plays Sundari, a so-called Malayali girl. Bollywood’s version of her identity is all jasmine flowers, plunging blouses, wet saris, and Mohiniyattam twirls.

But the moment Janhvi speaks, the illusion collapses. Her Malayalam is garbled beyond belief — with the now-infamous “puttum kadala” sounding less like breakfast and more like an alien password. For Malayali audiences, it’s beyond painful.

The stereotypes pile on: North Indian characters are fairer and more aspirational, while South Indian extras are darker, shabbier, and used for laughs. Even villains get token Kathakali masks. Add Sidharth singing SRK hits while “teaching” Malayalis how to row Vallam Kali boats, and you’ve got unintentional parody.

The film isn’t funny, romantic, or camp enough to pass as parody. Instead, it’s a cultural caricature weighed down by clichés and chemistry-free leads.

Interestingly, both leading ladies are nepo babies. Janhvi Kapoor, daughter of the late Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, headlined Param Sundari. On the other side, Kalyani Priyadarshan, daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Priyadarshan and actress Lissy, stars in Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra. Both women come with legacy surnames, both have access to the industry’s best, and both got a major release this week. Yet their films are being received worlds apart — one dismissed as Bollywood cosplay, the other celebrated as a bold reimagining of folklore.

Janhvi may be reduced to shimmying in wet saris while mangling Malayalam, but Kalyani is fronting an ambitious Malayalam superhero franchise that actually dares to build a world. One feels like a cultural misfire; the other feels like the future.