Socha Na Tha is the directorial debut of Imtiaz Ali and Abhay Deol. Now, why is this in the first line? Because even after loving this film for years now, I still didn’t know that this was Imitiaz Ali’s debut film. And this piece of information is important here especially for people who love his work and the kind of movies he does.
Let me break this to you first, Socha Na Tha was a flop at the box office but yes, it got positive reviews from the critics and audience. Maybe it flopped because the faces were new or the film wasn’t marketed well. The point here is, other than the box office results, everything else went in the favour of this film produced by Dharmendra to launch Abhay Deol.
Coming to the story now – Socha Na Tha is fairly a simple love story where Virean and Aditi, the protagonists meet at Aditi’s home in an arranged marriage set-up and decide to go their own ways after learning that both are being forced by their respective families to marry and that Viren is in love with Karen. But as they meet to discuss marriage, the duo instantly connect with each other and quickly become friends.
Now, Viren and Karen are about to go to Goa with friends but Karen is stuck as the relative is flying in. Aditi has a plan here – to tell Karen’s family that her friend is getting married but the wedding is in Goa. Aditi becomes that friend and convinces Karen’s family. Aditi is now to be seen in Goa while picking up Karen so she flies to Goa with Viren and his friends even before Karen joins them.
Aditi and Viren’s friendship grows deeper as they start spending time together. They realise that they are compatible but still, are yet to realise that they have fallen in love. But as they return home from the trip and their families understand that after saying no to marriage, the duo has been going to places together, it infuriates them, complicating the situation. While Aditi is being roasted by her Uncle and Aunt, her guardians after the passing away of her parents, Viren proposes to Karen (only after she pushes him to do so). Further complications arise when Viren’s sister-in-law convinces his father for Viren and Karen’s inter-caste marriage.
After everything goes according to Viren’s plan, he finds himself always thinking about Aditi and what she must be going through at home. There comes a day when he realises that he is in love with Aditi. He immediately visits her and confesses his love. Aditi feels the same for him. Soon, they find themselves committed to people they don’t love – Aditi, under pressure, says yes to a guy her uncle and aunt wants her to marry and Viren is still stuck with Karen.
As time passes, Viren confesses his feelings for Aditi to Karen. They both decide to go their own ways but now, Aditi refuses to walk out of her relationship as it will only further piss off her uncle and aunt and might even look like backstabbing. Viren then decides to stop chasing Aditi and get serious in life.
But life takes another turn when Karen cannot see Viren sulk anymore and decides to visit Aditi right before she is about to get engaged. Since it’s a no-brainer to guess what happens next, you might have guessed it right by now.
It still is fun to watch. The story, though, is super simple, the way it is directed makes it worth a watch. Both Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia have delivered subtle yet convincing performances which makes the film all the more worthy of your time.
And the music! I haven’t heard anything like this before. Most of the songs are more of poems or feelings of characters that are strung together in a poetic way and sung with very light music in the background. You cannot even call them songs at times. But they are soulful. My personal favourite is Na Sahi, written by Irshad Kamil and composed by Sandesh Shandilya. It’s a beautiful melody. The title song, Socha Na Tha and Mera Tumhara are another lovely songs.
It’s a whole package to be honest – good music, lovely performances, wonderful direction, and a heart-warming story. So, if you are looking for a feel-good love story to watch on the weekends, then Socha Na Tha is your go-to movie.