An invitation you should accept
SHAADI MEIN ZAROOR AANA Direction: Ratnaa Sinha Actors: Rajkummar Rao, Kirti Kharbanda Rating:
This movie checks all the Bollywood boxes — there’s romance, drama, revenge, song-and-dance.
Ratnaa Sinha’s Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana also manages to take on sexism, dowry and corruption.
Two Kanpur families decide their children should marry, and that’s how Satyendra Mishra (Rajkummar Rao) and Aarti Shukla (Kriti Kharbanda) meet.
He’s a government clerk with little ambition; she’s a college topper who wants to join the IAS. Neither wants to marry but they decide to go with the flow because they seem to have common values and interests.
Then the groom’s family begins to issue escalating dowry demands. Their boy is an only child; he stands to inherit the family property and they intend to cash in on this. The bride’s father hands over all he has, then sells his land, to give his daughter a good start in her new family.
The future mother-in-law then redefines IAS for Aarti. “Iss ghar mein to hum hi sarkar hain. Bahu aaye aur ghar sambhale, isi ko sarkari naukari samajh le.”
Rajkummar’s transformation from a young man charmed by his lady to one who does not believe in love is impressive. He makes you love, pity and hate him all at the same time.
Kriti is effortless; as are the actors who play the par- ents — Govind Namdev, KK Raina and Navni Parihar. Together, they manage to bring the conflicts and contradictions of small-town India to life. Even with its clichés, melodrama and disruptive song-and-dance routines, this is still an invitation you should accept.