At first glance, Veere Di Wedding feels like Sex and the City transplanted on Indian soil right down to the four women friends; not one less, not one more. All are educated, rich, urban and modern. They wear designer outfits, sleep with make-up on, smoke and drink, are not coy about sex or spewing cuss words. And live in a bubble that is perfect consumerist heaven for product placements. There are familiar cliches to tick — broken, dysfunctional family, token gay uncle, a “lesbo” joke, body image issues, caricaturised and loud middle-class West Dilliwalas, a mandatory foreign trip, predictable twists and turns and a neat, ‘all is well’ resolution.
It’s from this formulaic hat that Shashanka Ghosh tries to cleverly pull off a breezy, watch-n-go film about childhood buddies—Avni (Sonam Kapoor), Meera (Shikha Talsania) and Sakshi (Swara Bhaskar)—getting together for the wedding of the fourth one—Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor). Nothing less, nothing more.
The tone swings between the jocular and the serious but never once grave. There is wit in the chatter and camaraderie in the sorority even though the casually regal Kareena feels like part of some other universe and the profligacy of Swara’s Sakshi gets overstressed and way too broad. It’s the surprise presence of Anjum Rajabali, Neena Gupta and Ekavalli Khanna that ground the fairytale and give it unintended heft.
- Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar, Shikha Talsania, Sumeet Vyas, Vivek Mushran, Ekavali Khanna, Anjum Rajabali, Neena Gupta, Manoj Pahwa
- Storyline: Four childhood friends get together for one wedding that becomes an occasion to negotiate relationships and families, love and life
- Run time: 125 minutes
Veere is yet another in the steadily growing list of squarely mainstream films in which womanhood is not all about being virtuous. The ladies are flawed and susceptible to transgressions; headstrong, free-spirited yet confused and vulnerable when it comes to the choices they make or the commitments they want to run away from. They commit mistakes and chose to learn (or not) from their failings. So far, very good.
However, there are major minefields here as well, that stem from the way women have been traditionally framed, represented and seen on screen. Is a smoking, drinking, self-gratifying heroine truly defiant and rebellious? Or yet another mode to shock and titillate the audience? Is it a truly liberating portrayal or yet another straitjacket to box her in?
Also, the male characters may be nondescript secondary support to the women in the film but the world of the ladies still revolves around them. It’s about men and their mothers, relationships and families than I, me, myself. Veere would certainly fail the Bechdel test resoundingly. Despite all the ostensible brashness and gusto it shies away from plunging profoundly into the idea of womanhood. No wonder, at a time when the gender question is in such a serious churn and feminism debate at its sharpest, Veere ’s light-hearted and giddy take would seem entirely out of depth.
