Rating : 2/5
Genre : Drama, Comedy
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 15 minutes
Director : Shashanka Ghosh
Cast : Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Swara Bhaskara, Shikha Talsania, Ayesha Raza, Sumeet Vyas, Manoj Pahwa, Vivek Mushran
Kid rating : PG-15
Seriously, one “womance” after all these “bromance” movies, and they can’t get that right? I am so bummed – “Veere di Wedding” fell really, really below my expectations.
Our awesome foursome are : Kalindi Puri (Kapoor Khan), Avni Malhotra (Kapoor Ahuja), Sakshi (Bhaskara) and Meera (Talsania) – childhood friends who even in adulthood are very much in touch despite living in different places. When Kalindi and boyfriend Rishabh (Vyas) decide to make it official, the 3 friends are summoned to Delhi for the very traditional Punjabi wedding. Kalindi hates the familial expectations & mummyji that come with marriage so she’s having second thoughts. Avni is on the lookout for a good man, but sadly there are none. Sakshi is estranged from her husband, and finds solace at her parental home partying and spending daddy’s vast wealth. Meera, now US-based and married to a “gora”, has incurred the wrath of “bade papa” who won’t accept her Caucasian husband.
There are lots of sub-angles and and a myriad of characters to “Veere di Wedding” – there’s Kalindi’s gay uncle and his partner, her never-present father and her step-mom. Delhi culture is on display – there are the sniping aunties Sakshi has to deal with, the get-married pressure Avni has to fend off and the over-bearing, blingy in-laws that Kalindi must now defer to. Meera, away in the US, has to come to terms with her anger at her insular parents.
Now, watching all that on screen could have been fun, and indeed, I quite enjoyed some of the truths these women speak – there’s a scene where Avni bemoans the fact that society looks down on even a very accomplished woman if she isn’t respectably married – but, but . . . all of it is marred because these 4 appear to have no substance to them. It all seems styled and frivolous, and we never get to look into any of the characters to see what she really thinks, to even try and relate to them. It might seem like it, but really, there is no depth here.
Kareena Kapoor Khan is awful in this movie – hammy and over-the-top, and I considered her a good actress (remember Omkara?). Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is not much better. I like Shikha Talsania – very believable. But Swara Bhaskar easily outdid them all, nicely essaying her rebellious character. I’m blaming the director here for the extremely poor character development; all 4 seem cut from the same cloth, more or less. Whither originality? Whither variety? Are all women this outre, this squealy, this ready-to-dissolve-into-pink-glitter given the chance? Even if I overlook the cliched plot-line, the screenplay is ghastly – the film actually gets boring – words I’d never thought I’d say about this movie.
It does not help that the movie’s music is poor, and that we are buried under an avalanche of brands and bling. Also, I am seriously miffed that there weren’t any decent male leads. 4 gorgeous women, and all we get is Sumeet Vyas and the Delhi ogre “Bhandari”? Think “Zindagi Na Mileage Dobara” without Katrina, or “Sex And The City” without Mr. Big – who would watch that?
Some might deride this film as “limousine feminism” – these women are uber-rich, where a Phuket vacation is just a thought way, but I don’t see abundant moolah as a problem. The problem though is making wealth the solution, like in the trite ending to the movie.
Veere di Wedding is a serious misstep; the intention might have been dandy, but the execution is oh-so-flawed.
Kidwise: One non-explicit scene with a vibrator, which might need an explanation for curious minds. Other than that, nothing too problematic for the kiddos.
