Reunion turns the spotlight on relationships

MOVIE: Veere Di Wedding RATING: 8/10 REVIEWER: Fakir Hassen

DIRECTOR Shashanka Ghosh clearly targets the younger generation in India as he tries to show their attempts to free themselves from the shackles of male domination, but he would also have us believe that such women are hard-drinking, expletive-throwing, parent-resisting young adults.

In that process, he peppers the dialogues of all the main characters with the f-word to excess, and there are dozens of sexual innuendoes as well, rendering this film definitely not one to watch with children.

Even the inclusion of the word, Veere, literally translating as the colloquial “bro” as in “brothers”, is aimed at taking on the male stereotypes, as the four matric friends call themselves then and when they meet up a decade later for Kalindi’s wedding.

But by that stage, they have all established different careers and personal lives, which form the basis of the rest of the film.

Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor Khan) has agreed to marry her sweetheart of four years, Rishabh (Sumeet Vyas), despite her negative view of marriage because of her own parents’ relationship.

Avni (Sonam Kapoor Ahuja) is a divorce lawyer struggling with her dilemma of accepting arranged marriage proposals.

Sakshi (Swara Bhasker) is married to a foreigner which her father has refused to accept.

Finally, rich brat Meera (Shikha Talsania) is on the verge of a divorce and resorts to hitting the bottle at every opportunity to drown her sorrows.

The reunion turns into one in which the various relationships between their parents, partners and themselves come under the spotlight.

Ghosh uses the opportunity to share views through her characters on almost every social challenge in India today – changes in cultural values, the generational gap, risks that young women in India face today, bigotry, intolerance at various levels, and fraud and corruption, albeit that the latter is almost at a comedic level.

All these come out in an entertaining way through the characters, and the presence of Kareena and Sonam together does not result in one overshadowing the other.

Even the lesser known artistes are perfect for their roles.