Critical response On
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics' consensus reads, "
Photograph enriches the familiar arc of its love story by refreshingly refracting its characters' budding bond through a sociocultural prism."
Anupama Chopra of
Film Companion gives 3 stars out of 5 and finds the film tender, meditative, and poetic. She says, "The film is so quiet and so still in some parts, that you will get impatient. But it is evocative and its tenderness will stay with you." Guy Lodge of
Variety said that the film "has the same quiet streak of wistful sentimentality that made
The Lunchbox (2013) so globally beloved — and, for that matter, the same softly-softly humanity found in his two subsequent
English-language efforts."
Caryn James of
The Hollywood Reporter called it a "nuanced, slow-burn, will-they-or-won't-they romance" and noted that Batra "turns a story that sounds tired and goofy into a lovely film with a tone of tender sadness." Fionnuala Halligan of
Screen International noted that the film's "deliberate pace does bring some rich rewards for the patient viewer, while a lovely ending feels like a throwback to the old-fashioned big-screen romances of yore." Rahul Desai of
Film Companion praised Malhotra's performance and wrote: "The reason
Photograph really works, despite an airy premise, is the character of Miloni, and especially Sanya Malhotra’s evolved performance." Prahlad Srihari of
Firstpost felt that the film "fails to replicate
The Lunchboxs magic and called it a "slow-paced dramedy that can't quite transcend its clever setup."
Awards and nominations == References ==