Ritesh Batra’s new film, Photograph, begins with a romantic comedy cliché : a couple “meet cute.” Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a working class Mumbai street photographer, snaps a picture for Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), a shy girl from an upscale family. She forgets to pay him and walks off. Rafi is a poor bachelor, struggling to pay his late father’s debts while putting up with his grandmother Dadi’s (marvelous 86 year-old Farrukh Jaffar) nagging that he find a suitable wife. The old woman has threatened to stop taking her medication until her grandson finds a wife, so he uses Miloni’s photo to invent himself a fiancé. Dadi’s coming for a visit, so Rafi must convince Miloni to go along with the ruse. The game is on and — despite their social differences — the contrivance born of desperation goes surprisingly well.
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