Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Huma Qureshi is ‘Single Salma’, a young 30-something hardworking woman, running the household on her income, paying the debts of her ‘nawab’ father, and playing firefighter for her younger siblings, two married sisters, and a teen brother. Only her mother can see Salma silently wilting away due to the weight of her never-ending responsibilities and thinks marrying her off will solve it all.
Directed by Nachiket Samant, ‘Single Salma’ begins with a surprisingly breezy first half, anchored by Huma Qureshi as Salma, an overworked eldest daughter running on exhaustion and quiet resilience. Her calm routine collapses the moment her mother deploys the ultimate emotional weapon, the Indian “mother promise,” forcing Salma into the marriage market of Lucknow. And thus begins her quest to find the right ‘man’ in Lucknow city, because as per a matchmaker, she is too old for a good ‘boy’.
‘Single Salma’ then launches into a slightly humorous parade of disastrous suitors, pushing Salma to the brink of giving up altogether. Just when things seem hopeless, she meets Sikander, a loudly flamboyant 40-year-old businessman played by Shreyas Talpade. While Sikander falls instantly and dramatically in love, Salma agrees to the match for a simpler reason. He is the first man who isn’t looking for a second/third wife, a career sacrifice, or merely a domestic slave at his back-and-call.
Even Sikander’s portrayal is slightly caricature-ish, at least in appearance: he sports loud orange-ish dyed hair, and flashy colored dresses. But Shreyas Talpade makes him a likable human, and a song-dance sequence of him mooning over Huma’s Salma could compete with Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Lutt Putt Gaya’ in Dunki. Both actors sell the ‘head over heels in love’ feeling with Bollywood charm and conviction.
But well, just when Salma is almost ready to wed Sikander, an opportunity for a two-month-long training in London. The supportive Sikander expresses no qualms in having his dream wedding postponed, letting Salma fly to the UK, even when her own entire family tries to hold her back. Abroad, not only does she taste true freedom for the first time, but also meets the cosmopolitan Meet (Sunny Singh), a Londoner and her team’s trainer.
Ultimately, ‘Single Salma’ turns its attention to Salma’s choice: Sikander from Lucknow, an overenthusiastic, flashy yet kind-hearted clothes merchant who worships her, or Meet, the modern, role-model boss, raised in London, who offers her a glimpse of a life beyond Lucknow’s constraints in the UK.
Sunny Singh’s bland performance as Meet, however, doesn’t make him feel like a worthy competitor. Sure, Meet can drive, dance, DJ, and do a dozen other things, but he doesn’t quite bring the “aankhon mein teri ajab si ajab si adaaen hain” vibe when he looks at Salma. Meet might sound nice on paper, but is bland on screen, despite having better hair and style than Sikander. The other characters of ‘Single Salma’ are randomly strewn across the runtime, sometimes just there to push a small point forward, only to be forgotten for large chunks of the film.
The film really stumbles in the second half, dragging things out while making Salma behave in ways that don’t feel true to her character. What’s worse is how a serious breach of trust is brushed aside with muddled speeches about choice and independence. While Salma should never be expected to settle, neither for Sikander nor for Meet, ‘Single Salma’ weakens its argument by framing Meet’s privilege as progress, while overlooking the fact that Sikander’s empathy and openness emerge despite his limited, middle-class circumstances.
Running 2 hours and 21 minutes, ‘Single Salma’ drags considerably, falling short of becoming the thoughtful, empowering film about independence and freedom it clearly aims to be. Both Huma Qureshi and Shreyas Talpade deserved a stronger script. Regardless, this is a decent one-time watch.
Rating: 2.5 on 5 stars. Stream ‘Single Salma’ on Netflix.
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