Ante Sundaraniki: This Hilarious Rom-Com Has An Empowering Message On Pregnancy

Nani and Nazriya Fahadh's Ante Sundaraniki premiered on OTT this weekend, after releasing in theatres on June 10. Indian cinema is currently going through a drought when it comes to heartwarming rom-coms - an immensely popular genre just a decade or two ago. But this Telugu film, despite its not-so-impressive run at the box office, actually feels like a breath of fresh air, playing on the familiar meet-cute and pyaar me panga tropes. Also, there are, not one, but two sensitive themes hidden at the core of this film, which should compel you to put it on your must-watch list.

Ante Sundaraniki is about a Hindu boy and a Christian girl, who fall in love and decide to get hitched, despite knowing that they will face resistance from their orthodox families. Despite their contrasting upbringings, Sundar and Leela have one thing in common - their parents get to have the final word on who they decide to marry. The childhood friends turned sweethearts then weave an extensive web of lies that naturally ends up trapping them and creating a mess.

*Spoilers ahead

The film is a commentary on toxic Indian parenting and the lengths children may go to convince their parents of their choices if an outright rebellion is not possible for them. Nani's Sundar is the only male offspring in his extensive upper-caste Hindu family. His great-grandfather had more than a dozen children, his grandfather had eight kids, however, his father stops with procreation after his birth, as he had vowed not to have another child after a son is born to him. Sundar's dad is extremely protective of him, the only boy in his massive fleet of cousins. His father buys him a Lady Bird cycle because it doesn't have a connecting bar, which might pose a threat to his manhood. After he meets with a petty accident while riding a scooty (not a bike, mind you) his dad forces him to go to the office by bus. Stifled by his family's attitude, Sundar becomes a compulsive liar in an attempt to wriggle space for some free will in his life.

On the other hand, Leela has been brought up by her conservative Christian father to be an independent woman, who doesn't depend on any company or team to flourish. Leela's elder sister does what her parents want her to do, while they do what Leela wants them to. However, when the sister, Pushpa, asks her parents to approve of her choice of a life partner, the tables turn. Leela's mother says that since Pushpa has always been the obedient one, she has earned the right to choose her life partner. On the other hand, since Leela has always been spoiled by her parents, especially her father, he should get to choose a life partner for her in return of the favour.

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As fate would have it, Sundar and Pushpa fall in love and knowing the stand of their dads about such an alliance, they decide to play on their parents' fears and orthodox mindset to manipulate them into blessing this alliance. Leela fakes a pregnancy, while Sundar tells his parents that he is impotent and his lady love wants to marry him despite knowing the truth. The plan works, almost.

Their manipulation comes crashing down when the couple finds out that Leela suffers from dysgerminoma- an type of ovarian tumor whose removal could mean that she can't have children of her own. Upon knowing Leela's diagnosis and the fact that Sundar isn't impotent, his father and grandmother make up their mind to call off the alliance. However, Sundar stands by Leela, even telling her mother that their life won't stop just because Leela can't have kids. Isn't pregnancy a choice and not a compulsion, he asks?

It is refreshing to see a mainstream film tackle the subject of female infertility head on and spell it out without any fanfare. What makes it even more special is the fact that Sundar is not presented as a "hero". He doesn't deliver a lofty lecture during the climax to save the day. Nor does he have it in him to even fight for his love in front of his father and grandmother. In fact, it is his mother who stands up for the couple, calling out the mother-son's hypocrisy in revering their to-be daughter-in-law when it was their son who was supposedly impotent, but then suddenly seeing her religion and background as a problem when the tables are turned. However, Sundar simply assures Leela's parents by telling them that her diagnosis changes nothing for him.

Another way the film looks at how pregnancy changes women's lives for better or worse is through Pushpa - whose first baby tragically passes away during childbirth, leading to a rift in her marital life. When she conceives for the second time, Pushpa points out to her sister how her in-laws and husband's attitude towards her had changed for good. While they had called her disinterested and careless when she lost her baby, the family starts pampering her once she conceives again. "Don't I have any value unless I'm pregnant?" she asks her sister.

While " target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ante Sundariniki's outlook toward pregnancy needs to be applauded, it also needs to be called out for its gaze toward premarital sex. In a scene where Sundar's boss asks if he is considering impregnating his girlfriend to resolve the issue, he says, "You know I have a few principles."

One wishes that the film hadn't taken a moral high ground on premarital sex and conception. If pregnancy is to be seen a choice, then this outlook must include pregnancy in single women and the kind that happens outside of marriage. Selectively hailing pregnancy as a choice only champions married women, but leaves unmarried women on their own to face shame and stigma.

Despite its flaws, Ante Sundariniki makes for a great watch, if a feel-good film that doesn't overplay its social message is what you seek. The way Sundar and Leela's budding  love story is captured and the lengths that they go to for each other makes you pine for the decade when we didn't have to wait years for a wholesome rom-com to bless us with its presence.

The views expressed are the author's own.