Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Rajkummar Rao, Juhi Chawla, Regina Cassandra, Seema Pahwa and Abhishek Duhan

Director: Shelly Chopra

Rating: ****

In the age of the millennials where inter-religion and inter-caste marriages are still looked down upon by our society, there was another taboo in the society which dealt with same-sex marriages. In a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of India where section 377 was decriminalized, it was a sigh of relief for the LGBT community where their love was accepted with open arms in our country, after the legalization of the same-sex marriages, does it mean that our society is ready to accept this taboo? Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga talks just about that.

Even certain writers and directors have made an attempt to bring this issue to light in the past with their films but they have not been able to give fair treatment to the films revolving around same-sex love. It has either made a mockery out of it or denied the attention that it deserved. Films like Dostana, Student of The Year or even Kal Ho Na Ho are some of the examples of Bollywood's tryst with homosexual relationships.

A Vidhu Vinod Chopra film comes with high expectations especially when it has a cast as strong as the father-daughter duo Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja along with Juhi Chawla, Rajkummar Rao and Seema Pahwa in leading roles.


Coming to the film, Sweety Chaudhury(Sonam K Ahuja) runs into Sahil Mirza (Rajkummar Rao) at a theatre in Delhi and he falls in love with her at first sight. In a runaway chase, he loses her and follows her back to her hometown Moga in Punjab to pursue her. When he proposes to sweety, hell breaks loose when he learns that she loves someone else.

Sounds like a cliched drama till Sweety confronts Sahil and tells him that she is gay and is in love with another girl. Sahil after learning about her sexual orientation vows to bring the lovers together and most of all make her father Balbir Chaudhary (Anil Kapoor) accept his daughter's love with open arms.

Anil Kapoor and Sonam K Ahuja share a great on-screen presence and they both seamlessly fit the roles. Sonam K Ahuja who is known more for her fashion sense than her acting skills has essayed a great performance and looks easy on the eye.


Anil Kapoor's chemistry with Juhi Chawla and Rajkummar is not to be missed and he is a major driving force as far as the screenplay is concerned.

It was only a brilliant idea and a great cast but Shelly Chopra Dhar in her directorial debut has handled this plot and the script with such great finesse and it can rightly said so that this is by far the best hindi film that talks about homo-sexuality. This emotional ride served with a tinge of laughter is the perfect recipe and stays on your palette for quite some time. The quality of writing can be seen in the way Babloo Chaudhury (Abhishek Duhan) has essayed the part of a narrow-minded yet aggressive brother of the protagonist. This particular performance symbolizes the nature of our society. It pricks you deep down but also leaves you on a positive high and a broadened horizon, which is what the writer of this film wanted the audiences to experience.


Although it is not an easy topic to play with on screen, but the simple yet promising writing along with Shelly's direction has done justice to the social message as well as the film.

The music of the film has been given by Rochak Kohli and Sanjay Wandrekar and the famous song of the 90's Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga has been re-created for the film, another famous Punjabi song from 90's Gur Nalo Ishq Mitha has been re-made into a new age punjabi song. It is known as the wedding song and will surely be played at some this season.

The film couldn't have been summed up better than its title 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga'.

An emotional ride with a good message and a pinch of laughter completes this film.If you have ever fallen in love do watch this millenial drama-com for its simplicity that will leave you mildly teary eyed when you walk out.