Director & Writer: Maneesh Sharma
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Cinematography: Aseem Mishra
Editor: Namrata Rao
Music: Salim-Sulaiman
Cast: Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh
Grade:B: Nice and Entertaining
A coke in the right and a bucket of pop corn in my left hand, I was prepared to view another mushy and melodramatic flick of Yash Raj Films. Seated among a hand full of audience, the movie didn’t seem to be all that promising. I slunk further into my seat and braced myself for the movie.
The result is a frothy, feel-good flick, with loads of band baaja. Well, the movie couldn’t have released at a better time than this, December being the wedding season.
The ambitious Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma) sets her eyes on becoming a wedding-planner. Being in the shaadi business for 3 years (part time) and having a blueprint of her dream company “Shaadi Mubarak” ready, Shruti is all set to enter the market for marriage planning with one golden rule in it: “Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo.”
Introducing Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh), who, after a failed attempt to pair up with Ms Kakkar in college, decides to pair up with her in bijness instead, the foremost reason being to escape from his father’s not-so-grand plans for him – becoming a farmer. Bittoo being the carefree wannabe with no future plans is the complete opposite of Shruti.
As expected out of Bollywood, fate gets the duo together setting up their own wedding planning company ‘Shaadi Mubarak’, which turns out to be a huge success. Their bijness starts of catering to middle-class marriages and later upgrades to elite weddings. The film touches the peak just before the interval, with an unexpected twist. Over looking the rule of “Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo,” the practical girl falls in love with the bratty boy.
INTERVAL:
Refilling my popcorn and this time with a sprite in my hand, I dashed into the hall not wanting to miss a single moment.
As the story unwraps itself, differences crop up between the two. Bittoo being a commitment freak, begins to feel awkward in Shruti’s presence and hence,they fall apart. They go their own ways only to find themselves unsuccessful and debt ridden. Fate not being so harsh on them, the duo soon find themselves together planning a big fat wedding of the year.
Their love-hate story takes a twist with the girl’s fiancée inducing in the scene. Thankfully his presence remains restricted to phone-calls. Just before the climax, Shruti gives Bittoo her piece of mind which is very well-worded and is sensible.
The casting is bang on target with newcomer, Ranveer, slipping into his character of a ‘hinglish’ speaking U.P. boy with remarkable ease. He undoubtedly has the best punch lines in the movie and matches it up with a good measure of realistic acting and some cool moves on the dance floor. Anushka Sharma is brilliant in her bold and beautiful character. Sometimes her expressions do seem exaggerated and unreal. But overall, she does a very commendable job as a girl torn between her feelings and her ambitions. Their sizzling chemistry does set the screen on fire a few times.
The movie seemed a little prolonged during the first half but post interval, it was smooth and crisp with the right mix of drama and romance. The songs are peppy and hummable, especially ‘ainvaiyain ainvaiyain’ and ‘dum dum’.
