Movie Review : Shaadi Ke Side Effects (2014)

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2014
Running time : 2 hours 25 minutes
Director : Saket Chaudhary
Cast : Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Gautami Kapoor, Vir Das, Rati Agnihotri, Ila Arun, Purab Kohli
Kidwise : PG-13

Sid (Akhtar) and Trisha (Balan) are very much in love. A baby comes quickly after marriage. Working woman Trisha quits her job because she wants to stay home with baby, which leaves musician Sid to bring in the moolah. Needs must. He quits “creative work” and devotes time to composing jingles to bring home the paycheck. Their ideas on parenting differ – while she wants daughter Mili attached at the hip, he wants some couple time, sans Mili. Differences bloom. Then come the little white lies.

If you have seen Pyaar Ke Side Effects, know that that film is superior, and that movie didn’t even have the star-power this one has. PKSE was cute, quirky and charming. SKSE is full of forced cuteness. You’ll have to imagine the quirk and the charm is kinda absent.

It is not that the film doesn’t try – it brings up valid points of difference in a relationship and gives us the (believable) lowdown on the transition from double-income-no-kids to life-with-baby. But, and this is where it fails, it doesn’t know what it is or where it is going. Is SKSE a farce? Are we supposed to laugh at these ridiculous, whiny, new parents having semi-breakdowns? Or is it making a point for feminism and domestic equality? Or is it just being Bollywoodian, and lazily meandering along with nary an end in sight? The director didn’t seem to have a clue.

Farhan and Vidya, great actors both, can do only so much to salvage the film; they are bound by the lazy, pointless script. Ram Kapoor, ballooning by the minute, is himself, effortless and charming as the smarmy, smug brother-in-law. Vir Das is wonderful in his short role.

I’d sum up this film as a big blah. Yes, it’s better than all the other trash out there, because the lead actors bring their classiness wherever they go. But when post-watch, the film hasn’t entertained, made a point, or even given you a mild, tepid, feel-good buzz, it has failed. Let’s chalk this up to a not quite.