India, Nov. 1 -- Single Salma could easily pass off as a distant cousin to Kangana Ranaut's 2013 film Queen. Both films revolve around a woman on the brink of marriage who heads abroad, rediscovers herself, and realises that self-worth and marital status need not be intertwined. But here's the real question: does Single Salma manage to regurgitate that tried and tested formula successfully?

Directed by Nachiket Samant, the film follows Salma (Huma Qureshi), a woman from Lucknow who refuses to succumb to society's ticking clock. Once descended from nawabs, her family has fallen on hard times, and Salma shoulders nearly all the household responsibilities. She forgets she's entitled to a life of her own.

Enter her mother, who extracts a pr...