Director of the 'Jannat' franchise (2008 and 2012), 'Tum Mile' (2009) and 'Raja Natwarlal' (2014), Kunal Deshmukh deploys the timeless formula of romantic love stories, to give us a more realised, relatable love story, but the weak writing by Shridhar Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti and Dheeraj Kedarnath Rattan, makes the viewing experience exhausting. Not to forget, highly problematic and just falling short of 'Kabir Singh'.

Starring Sunny Kaushal, Radhika Madan, Mohit Raina and Diana Penty, 'Shiddat' is about star-crossed lovers going the distance when passionately in love. The film begins with Gautam (Raina) and Ira's (Penty) sweet-cute romance which culminates into marriage, despite the glaring contrast in their personalities and ideologies. Their marriage is gate-crashed by Jaggi (Kaushal) and his friends, who take into Gautam's rousing speech on love that is destined and why one would cross seas and continents to achieve it. A few years later, we see Jaggi and Kartika (Madan) meet at a sports camp. He is a hockey player and she, a swimmer. Through creepy stalking sessions at cloak rooms and the pool side to waltzing into the bed, over sensual, choreographed sequences, Jaggi realises that Kartika is the one. She, on the other hand means nothing serious and tells him that she will be getting married. The remainder of the film simply coasts along wanting to appease the alpha male who refuses to take no for an answer.

Outright entitlement and the man-child complex is not the only issue with the film. We've had enough living room discussions on 'Darr', 'Tere Naam', 'Raanjhanaa' and the universal favourite 'Kabir Singh' which've only led to further exhaustion. But if at all you mean to execute portions which scream of passion and commitment, the film invests judicious screenplay on Jaggi crossing all limits of stupidity and irrationality, you find it hard to even care in the first place. It's equally saddening to see Raina's potential get wasted criminally, when we, the audience, are immensely convinced about his craft. Poor guy is supposed to be an official in the Indian Foreign Services but much of his role involves indulging in Jaggi's impulses. Madan, who was such a breath of fresh air in 'Pataakha' and 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota', barely strikes an impression as Kartika, while Penty, who remains such a rare appearance in films, is forgettable too.

If not for the impressive soundtrack by Sachin-Jigar, Manan Bharadwaj and Gouruv Dasgupta, which frankly can be streamed on a music app of your preference, 'Shiddat' is largely skippable.