The raunchy Bollywood romantic comedy Veere Di Wedding could be that guilty pleasure that’s usually derived after watching a glossy hit sitcom like Sex And The City.
Plucky women, sassy attitude and their collective fabulousness make the women of Veere Di Wedding instantly likeable.
Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania, this friendship romp shouldn’t be take too seriously. Their problems are steadfastly upper-crust, but Kareena is the anchor of this girl gang who have been thick friends since high-school.
It begins on a coltish, awkward note where four teenagers celebrate the end of their exams and their locker room talk, laced with popping a bubbly, to establish their personalities. It’s a shaky start, but the film finds it bearing as the girls enter adulthood.
Kareena plays the pivotal protagonist Kalindi Puri, the commitment-phobe from a fractured home with warring parents; there’s Sonam who plays Avni, a divorce lawyer who’s a romantic at heart and spends precious minutes rebelling against her mother’s wish to see her married.
Talsania plays Meera, a young rebel who elopes and is happily married in an inter-racial relationship; while actress Swara Bhaskar is Sakshi, the rich young woman who is on the brink of a nasty divorce.
They are emotionally-complex and are trying to figure out life, men and everything in between. And if a solution eludes them, they swear generously.
There’s no denying that it was liberating as a viewer to watch the leading ladies in a Hindi film have feet of clay. They wear their vulnerabilities and failures like a badge of honour.
They aren’t pious by any definition and are stoically uninhibited when it comes to lust and love.
It’s Kareena’s character that gets the maximum love from director Shashanka Ghosh. Her angst-ridden existence gives her ample space to flex her acting prowess. She comes out shining as a scarred young woman who isn’t keen on being a radiant bride.
Bhaskar’s risque act is a pleasure to watch. The wry-humour and their ribald inside jokes seemed organic and natural too.
The story and the twists aren’t life altering or shocking, but the ladies and their kinship is organic enough to be believable. While the first half moves at a quick pace, the dramatic twists in the second half seemed a bit forced. But director Ghosh re-gains control towards the climax and ties it up well.
As far as bonding films go, it’s a victory for Veere Di Wedding on that front. But what lets you down are the blatant attempts at plugging specific brands into the film. It’s jarring and distracting.
While the women are a force to reckon with in this film, the men — barring Sumeet Vyas as Rishabh Malhotra — are decidedly forgettable. They are no match for the women in terms of personality or aura. It’s a shame. But that shouldn’t deter you from giving this romantic comedy a shot.
While this film isn’t going to make you any wiser in love or life, Veere Di Wedding will go down as an engaging film that doesn’t hurt the eye.
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Film: Veere Di Wedding
Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.
Stars: 3 out of 5
UAE Rating: 15+