There is no dearth of pyaar-vyaar love-shove in Sweet Dreams, a poor copy of a very poor film 2014 television film ‘In My Dreams’.
The first question that pops up while watching this wishy-washy rom-com is, why appropriate ideas from a dubious source? The original was incredibly awful, and the remake is just about borderline unbearable.
Very simply put, the oversweetened pudding plot is about two strangers, Kenny (Amol Parashar) and Dia (Mithila Parker), who “meet” each other in their dreams without ever having met in reality.
So, where does something so intrinsically trite go from its inception? Did someone say downhill? The individual scenes are written as if they were audition sheets for a high school play for Valentine’s Day. The characters speak as if they were recording voice notes.
There is a relatively interesting passage where Kenny is on a blind date with a girl who is a confounding mix of the traditional and the modern (she’s the most interesting character in the film and an entire film should be made on her). Here, in the meet-cute date slate, the dialogues make digs at young jargon like “obvio.”
Regrettably, self-referential irony is not something this film can carry off. Sweet Dreams is a timid, sanitized, saccharine sweet take on idealized love in contemporary times. Lacking any serious intentions, it simply swims blissfully in shallow waters, oblivious of any subliminal significance in life or in “art,” if one may call this “obvio” love story a work of art.
The scenes don’t flow into one another: they float as though looking for a resting place. Not finding any support from the screenwriter-director Victor Mukherjee, the characters seem to move forward on their volition. The movement is one-dimensional, from Mumbai to a holiday resort and back. It takes little effort for this meager rom-com to establish a yawn sambandh with the audience.
The film’s writer conceives episodes that are meant to be funny and sassy. They are not, sadly. I have seen more intelligent writing, less “obvio” writing in music videos. Sweet Dreams? Yes, if you look at this as a snooze fest. Oh, by the way, television journalist Faye D’Souza makes her film debut as a therapist. A star is born.
