Mumbai’s film industry has long thrived on the promise of uniting a diverse nation through shared stories. From romantic comedies to action blockbusters, its formula has been to blend regional identities into a common cinematic language. Yet time and again, this ambition has faltered ~ not because Bollywood lacks the intent to bridge differences, but because of the tendency to flatten them into stereotypes.

The recent Bollywood romcom Param Sundari fits into a familiar template: the heroine from Kerala is reduced to a handful of clichés ~ flowers, elephants, coconut trees, and halting Malayalam ~ while the Delhi-born hero is positioned as the more relatable centre of the story. For decades, such portrayals went unquestioned. Today, they invite instant critique from the very audiences they seek to represent. The backlash is not simply about accents or costumes. It speaks to a larger discomfort with cultural........

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