Veere Di Wedding - Desi.. Desier.. Desiest..

Suhansid Srikanth

Shooting for Veere Di Wedding must have been like a big budget wedding rehearsal for Sonam Kapoor. Right from picking Lehenga to Mehendi.. Sangeet to Reception.. everything that the film covers screams the word 'DESI'. Characters either hook up or break up, get drunk at parties or wake up in hangover. At one point, you wonder whether it is just another typical - mindless -Bollywood Masala flick with only difference as women lead characters. But you also get an afterthought followed.. Why not?

For a film that was a hot talk in limelight for quite sometime with the pile of controversies hovering around.. it barely comes with a story to tell. Four odd-woman-out friends trapped in patriarchal / hypocritic family setups trying to cope up with double standards of the society is what the core of the film is! It is neither handled as a serious venture like Angry Indian Goddesses nor like a full fledged comedy as Lipstick under my Burkha. It mindlessly jokes oneliners one after the other amidst sentimental subplots.

It revolves around the character of Kareena, Kalindi Puri and she comes up with one of the most artificial performances of all time. The acting is so fake that you kinda approve even Sonam's mandatory pathetic expressions as good one. Her dramatic reactions to the marriage chaos around is constantly underlined rather shoved to us.

No wonder the men characters are merely reduced to boring, dullard, dumbheads who are just love interests having no clue on how to deal with these women. They dance with them.. propose them.. or have sex with them! But why not? After years and years of dumb portrayal of women on screen.. here we see a man refusing to kiss a girl and walks away.

As surface level as all the conflicts are.. we don't really get whether it is the marriage life or this particular marriage style that bothers Kalindi. Her stopping the marriage doesn't really stuns you much as it is merely works as an interval thing. When the film opens to second half.. we see a war of words between friends.. but it gets sorted out in the immediate next scene. And the next thing she does is holidaying with friends.. and then the reunion of couple happens so as to pave for the film to lead for its climax. All the drama that's constructed never really comes off as one!

If at all the film tries to convey something.. it is in normalizing the thousand stereotypes and presumptions we have for women. Except for the four leads, almost all the characters come forth as representation of the society. At times exaggerated.. but the film stands out as one question.. 'What's the big deal?'.

The music is desi. All the songs are meant to DJ as Sangeet numbers in weddings. Cinematography is flashy all the way like someone kept torching at a diamond. And.. God! The costumes and make-up! The film is Sabyachi meeting Malhotra for an year end sale. You seriously feel like handing over stock of tissues to Sonam to wipe off her lipstick! It distracts one beyond all the eye candy buttered visuals.

The only interesting enough role was that of Swara Bhaskar's. From costumes to gestures.. it is sassy, lit and fireworks all throughout. The actress's off screen persona elates the character evenmore. It is weird that the masturbation scene which has become the national talk of the moment doesn't add much to the story. But why not?

Bottom Line: Half the time Veere Di Wedding fails to hold you with the story. But.. Girls! Women! Here is a film that you can finally go with your gang, whistle for every line and laugh your heart out!

Rating: 2/5