Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana movie review: A fun wedding filled with clichés

Directed By: Ratnaa Sinha
Produced By: Vinod Bachchan, Manju Bachchan, Kaleem Khan
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Kriti Kharbanda
Duration: 2 hour 17 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 2.5/5

Marriage is surely one of the favourite subjects our filmmakers like to explore on the big screen. This year we have seen movies like ‘Running Shaadi’, ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’, ‘Phillauri’, ‘Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana’, ‘Behen Hogi Teri’, ‘Mubarakan’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’, the list is never-ending. All these films revolved around a wedding, and now here’s one more to add to the list, ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’, which not only has ‘Shaadi’ as its basic plot but has ‘Shaadi’ in its name too.

‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’ is about Satyendra (Rajkummar Rao) who is all set to get married to Aarti (Kriti Kharbanda). In their first meeting itself, Aarti clearly tells Satyendra that she would like to work after marriage and the guy happily agrees. It’s an arranged marriage for them, but then in their courtship period love blossoms between the two. On the day of her marriage, it is revealed that Aarti has cleared PCS exams. At the same time her sister reveals to Aarti that her mother-in-law won’t allow her to work after marriage, and she urges her to run away. Aarti decides to leave the wedding and runs away to pursue her dreams. (Does this remind you of a movie you have already seen? Yes right!) So, now after five years, Aarti is a Sub. Registrar and is accused of taking a bribe, her case goes into the hands of the DM, who is none other Satyendra. Now starts a war (actually a one-sided revenge drama). What will happen next? Will Satyendra be able to take the revenge or will Aarti be able to prove that she is innocent?

We are sure you guys remember ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ that released in March this year. It was an entertaining film with a brilliant message revolving around dowry and the dreams of a girl. Cut to November 2017, here’s ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’, once again a movie that revolves around marriage, dowry and the dreams of a girl. But, unfortunately this Ratnaa Sinha directorial just turns out to be another clichéd Bollywood movie. The first half of the movie is quite similar to ‘BKD’. Well, we can’t say that it is the exact copy, but then it has many similarities. Writer Kamal Pandey and director Ratnaa Sinha manage to impress us in the first half with some really amazing sequences that showcase the reality of the world we are living in. There are some wonderful romantic and mushy sequences between Rao and Kharbanda, but then the second half spoils the whole mood of the film.

If someone accuses me for doing something wrong, I am sure I would reciprocate to it, instead of just sitting and crying, and feeling guilty for what I did to pursue my dreams. The punchline of the film is ‘Everything is fair in love and war, love is over, now war begins’, but then a war has to be two-sided right, in this case, it is just a revenge from the guy’s side, and what the girl does, well she cries. The second half has too many done and over with plots. It is filled with situations that will make you feel bad for the character of Aarti, poor girl! We wonder what the writer had in mind while writing role. Was she a girl who dared enough to not get married and pursue her dreams instead or a girl who doesn’t have guts to stand for herself and she just sobs?

At one point, you will feel that the movie has ended, but no wait, there are some more clichéd twists left that take us to a predictable climax. A climax which is a ditto copy of one more film that released this year, and you know what, that film also starred Rao and also revolved around marriage (start thinking).

Talking about the performances, Rajkummar Rao is good as always. He once again proves he can do any role given to him. Kriti Kharbanda is also great in her part, but most of the times in the film all she does is cry and hence gets on to you after a point. Veteran actors like Govind Namdev, Vipin Sharma and Manoj Pahwa are fantastic in their respective roles. Nayani Dixit as Aarti’s sister is amazing and Karanvir Sharma impresses in the small appearance.

A movie revolving wedding needs to have some really good music. ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’ has decent numbers, but a chartbuster is surely missing.

Overall, ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’ is a one time watch but there could have been twists that weren’t predicatble that could have made it a great watch.

Watch Trailer