The chemistry between debutante Ranvir Singh (Bittoo Sharma) and the promising Anuskha Sharma (Shruti Kakkar) is undoubtedly the highlight of this musical entertainer that keeps you engaged for most parts.
Singh plays a fun-loving, rustic Jat to perfection (you feel he was plucked - ripe and fresh - from the sugarcane fields of Saharanpur) while Sharma takes her proven credentials (Rab ne banaa di Jodi, Badmash Company) to the next level with her superb, restrained performance as a starry-eyed Janakpuri Delhi girl. Both come together to form a venture that’s both recession-proof and inflation-friendly (more so in North India, we are inclined to believe) - the planning of Weddings. She’s sure of the costs and benefits of the project; he’s excited about any ‘binness’ that keeps him away from the native sugar cane.
‘Shaadi Mubarak’ takes off and soars high - thanks to the couple’s ingenuity and a god sent value chain of decorators, caterers, DJs and event managers. After conquering the working-class milieu of Janakpuri, Shaadi Mubarak marks its debut in the upmarket confines of Sainik Farms. From lakhs to crores, their triumph is now at its peak…So, now it’s time to hit the nadir, at least the Bollywood formula tells you so.
So, in the frenzy of the celebration, the heroine breaks her own rule book - mixes ‘pyaar’ with ‘vyapaar’ in the proverbial night of passion and emotion. She’s in love but calls it dove when the hero fails to reciprocate her ‘true’ feelings. Yet, deep within, she’s smitten with rage that finally spells the end of their corporate partnership. But the ‘market’ wants them back, so do the alliance partners - so a forced reunion happens for the sake of ‘binness’ that predictably makes way for the usual melodrama of lovelock and wedlock.
The first half of the film is arresting - what with every frame, every dialogue tailored to the occasion. It’s only when the forced ‘break-up’ is imposed on the film that it loses momentum. It’s not clear why should the hero should be averse to love in the first place, more so when he pines for her the moment he knows she’s getting married to someone else. Yes, the film does hint at his fun loving and flirtatious nature but ‘Bittoo’ hardly reflects it on screen. We needed more plausible cues from the script to justify the hero’s initial detachment as also his fag-end desperation. But the director and the writer should share the blame for this mishap, not the actors who leave no stone unturned to lend meaning to their roles.
Anushka Sharma is undoubtedly one of the very few heroines from the current crop who can be called ‘actresses’. In fact, with this film, she has raised the bar for the leading ladies of the Hindi film industry. She has a natural flair for comedy but she’s equally impressive in intense, solemn moments. The rugged Ranvir is simply outstanding in his debut. He has shown great promise but only time will tell if he can prove his versatility in portraying sophisticated roles, given his unkempt and unconventional looks. The artistes playing inconsequential parts in this film are all accomplished artistes - whether Bittoo’s friends, Shruti’s parents, Shaadi Mubarak’s service providers or its customers.
The promos of this Yash Raj banner were quite misleading - the clichéd “Shaadi baraat” theme and an unusual lead pair hardly looked promising. But the film, we must admit, has turned out to be quite a revelation but for the flawed script that took away some of the fun towards the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment