Veere Di Wedding Movie Review: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Swara Bhasker Steal The Show In This Fun Entertainer
Veere Di Wedding is a very good-looking movie, with some moments that will charm you and others that will shock you.
Is Veere Di Wedding Bollywood's answer to Sex and The City? The trailers had promised a bold and fun cinema that celebrates friendship. Veere Di Wedding is also Kareena Kapoor Khan's comeback movie after a gap of two years. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsania form her Veere gang in the movie. Veere Di Wedding is directed by Shashanka Ghosh and is produced by Ekta Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor and Nikhil Dwivedi. Here's our review of the movie.
Veere Di Wedding is all about Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor) and her Veere's who come together for her wedding. Kalindi is in love with Rishabh (Sumeet Vyas), but has marriage-phobia over her own parents' marital woes. Avni (Sonam Kapoor) is a divorce lawyer who is single and is hassled by her mother (Neena Gupta) for an arranged marriage alliance. Sakshi (Swara Bhasker) is on the verge of a divorce but hasn't told anyone why she has left her husband. Meera (Shikha Talsania) is estranged from her family, after eloping with an American. As Kalindi begins to get cold feet about her marriage, her friends have to support her, while working out their own issues.
Contrary to the makers' opinion, Veere Di Wedding is a chick flick, and I don't think there is anything wrong with being called that! Some puritans might have issues with the frank discussions of sex and flings. They might not want to accept the fact that like guys, even girls love to talk trash and binge-drink. There are scenes that will shock a casual viewer (like the reason why Sakshi left her husband). But you don't feel many of these to be forcefully inserted just for the shock-factor, though the drinking scenes could have been lesser. Thankfully, save for Swara's track, there is minimal male bashing here. That makes it stand apart from the Pyar Ka Punchnama series.
It is a very good-looking movie with some eye-catching art-direction (Musa Husain) and well-lit frames (cinematography by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti). Everything feels so rich and pleasing to look at. The music goes well with the vibe of the movie.
Just as the trailers showed us, Veere Di Wedding is definitely bold in its language and execution. But the movie is not just about F- words and 'pencho', it is a celebration of friendship that has moments of bonding that will be enjoyed by both the genders. The scenes where the girls pull each other's legs over hookups and bad decisions are something we can relate to. The dialogues by Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri help in adding more wit in these sequences. The camaraderie between the actresses make us feel that they really are lifelong chuddy buddies, and it helps the movie nearly sail through some very patchy issues.
The issues being, the movie has a wafer-thin plot. At times, it feels like a glance into First World problems of our country. We really cannot relate some of the pressing matters here, especially when some of them have already been seen and addressed in other movies. The Phuket sequence, where the girls reinvigorate their friendship, feels like a beautiful distraction in the film. Maybe it's my simple opinion, but Veere Di Wedding feels like a diluted version of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. You also do not buy into the conclusion, where the bigger issues are just talked out and everyone is given a happy ending.
Also for a movie that wants to throw stereotypes out of the window, there are quite a few caricatures in Veere Di Wedding, especially when Rishabh's family come into focus. There is also a scene that is about consent where a girl kisses a guy and he backs out, and the girl calls him out for being a mama's boy. First of all, he hinted to you he was uncomfortable with the kisses, and secondly, what's wrong with being a mama's boy?
The most annoying part of the movie was the forced product placement. You literally end up playing a game on how many brands come up in the course of the movie. In case you miss one, fear not! There will be a repeat shot of the same. And in a particular scene, a car-hiring service is mentioned by its name casually, then shown in bold and then mentioned again! Just wow!
Talking about the performances, Kareena Kapoor Khan is a delight to watch in VDW, being the pivot of the story. At times, she channels Meryl Streep in her expressions, but overall, she is very likeable. Swara Bhasker's track may not appeal to many (though I loved how it concluded), but the actress is an absolute hoot as the Delhi girl who loves her drinks and abuses. The debutante Shikha Talsania gives a confident performance, though even her track needed better writing. Sonam Kapoor, surprisingly, feels the kamzor kadi in the gang, with the weakest storyline but makes most of it with her cherubic expressions.
Sumeet Vyas is adorable as the do-gooder fiancee, equipped with the best one-liner of the movie. Vivek Mushran is another standout among the supporting cast as Kalindi's gay uncle. Neena Gupta, Manoj Pahwa, Vishwas Kinni, Ayesha Raza are all good.
Yay!
- The girls' camaraderie
- The vibrant frames and art-direction
- The music
- Kareena, Swara, Shikha, Sumeet
- Some witty lines
Nay!
- The wafer-thin premise with lack of pressing issues
- Some meandering subplots
- A weak conclusion
- Annoying product placements
- Diving into caricatures
Final Thoughts
Veere Di Wedding is a very good-looking movie, with some moments that will charm you and others that will shock you. The girl gang display amazing chemistry and you are hooked onto their bonding scenes. With a better script and direction, Veere Di Wedding would have been a real game-changer. In the end, it is a harmless entertainer that won't bore your pants off, for sure!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 01, 2018 02:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).