Mayur Lookhar
Mumbai, 07 Apr 2017 11:52 IST
An outrageous plot, a tacky screenplay and Vivaan Shah-Akshara Haasan’s dismal show turns director Manish Harishankar’s rom-com into a disaster.
The cliched Bollywood love triangle tales of the 1990s often saw the hero helplessly watching his lady love enter into wedlock with another man. However, at the 11th hour, or four pheras (Hindu wedding nuptials) later, the girl would annul the rituals and walk into the arms of her hero. Often it’s the groom-to-be who unites the bride with her true lover.
What's astonishing is that here’s a big fat wedding with hundreds of guests, relatives watching, but neither the groom/bride or their parents care what the guests or the relatives make of this 11th hour groom replacement plot. In the end, all cheer the uninvited hero as he ties the knot with the bride.
Viewers with some sense of logic have always been baffled by such sequences, but have to come to unwillingly accept them over the years. The gatecrasher boy marries the bride, and that is where the fantasy ends. It sure can’t get any more ridiculous.
Well, director Manish Harishankar is out to prove us wrong as he scales new heights of ridiculousness with Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana.
The title is born out of the popular Hindi/Urdu proverb, ‘Begaani shaadi mein Abdullah deewana’ which roughly translates to an uninvited guest out to get some free food. Harishankar’s Laali replaces begaani, while Laddoo takes the place of Abdullah. A smart title, but sadly, the film turns out to be a proverbial disaster.
Laddoo (Vivaan Shah), son of a Madhya Pradesh bicycle trader Pramod (Darshan Jariwala) leaves home to purse his sky-high dreams in Baroda, Gujarat. However, he ends up waiting tables at Kabir bhai’s (Sanjay Mishra) restaurant.
There he meets Laali (Akshara Haasan), a regular customer. Soon they fall in love. Laddoo’s lie of being a crorepati’s son doesn’t last long, leaving the corporate executive Laali disheartened. He manages to win her back and soon they get between the sheets while holidaying in Kashmir.
Laali gets pregnant, but Laddoo is not ready for marriage. The girl leaves her abusive father Ganpat (Saurabh Shukla) wanting to move into Laddoo’s home provided he accepts her and her unborn child. Despite his father Pramod demanding that he accept Laali, Laddoo chooses career over love. It’s not just Laali, but the boy severs ties with his parents too.
Spoiled by success, Laddoo tries tricking his boss Mandeep (Ravi Kishen) only to be fired. He seeks redemption and manages to find shelter in Laali’s home. Here’s a man who impregnated his unmarried daughter, yet Ganpat reluctantly agrees to take Laddoo in.
Laddoo wants Laali back in his life but she lives with Laddoo’s parents. So basically, Laddoo's biological parents disown him and treat Laali as their daughter, while Laali's father takes Laddoo as his son.
Vir (Gurmeet Choudhary) is an orphan and a heartbroken prince who loses his lady love to a tragedy. Influenced by a family pundit, Vir’s guardian angel Rajmata (Suhasini Mulay) believes that the only way Vir’s life would change is by marrying a pregnant woman. Laali fits the bill perfectly. Vir falls in love with Laali and eventually believes that she’s the pregnant woman who he is destined to marry.
If this wasn't ridiculous enough, enter Palak (Kavitta Verma — Rakhi Sawant’s clone) who complicates the plot further.
We could be guilty of revealing too much of the plot, but it’s a script that needs to be exposed. Seriously, Mr Director (Harishankar) what made you come up with such an outrageous script? Creative liberty is one’s right but there’s simply no justifying such a horrendous story.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a Hindu right wing organisation, had objected against the film for showing a pregnant woman marrying another man. How does one show a pregnant woman in her ninth month, expecting to deliver any moment, getting married? It is unbelievable that writer director Harishankar could come up with such a plot.
A shocking script is met with equally shocking performances with Vivaan leading the pack.
He made a decent debut with Vishal Bhardwaj’s Saat Khoon Maaf (2011) but it’s been downhill since. He acts like a cry baby all the time. Even though he sticks to his limits, Vivaan’s attempt to bring out the romantic hero in him only ends in shambles. His mediocre antics make you cringe in your seat. Wonder what dad Nasseeruddin Shah would have to say about mediocrity in Hindi cinema now.
This mediocrity is reflected in the performance of Haasan, too, who clearly has miles to go before she can find her feet in Hindi cinema. The girl has added nothing to her skill set since Shamitabh (2015). Honestly, she is grossly undercooked and really needs to do some soul searching over how she can grow in Hindi cinema. Her gorgeous eyes are a treat, but Haasan's lack of proficiency in Hindi and poor acting are an eyesore.
Perhaps, director Harishankar sensed that his leads were dragging the film down and so he curbed their presence in the second half.
The lone bright spot of the film is Saurabh Shukla. The poor script doesn’t hamper his spirits as Shukla gets into the skin of his character. Ganpat is an alcoholic and domineering character. Shukla intimidates you with his act, particularly in the sequence where an inebriated Ganpat harasses his wife (Kishori Shahane) and Laali.
The problem with the film is that a brilliant show by Shukla was never going to save it from being a disaster. Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana was destined for doom. The 11th hour groom replacement plots are passe. There’s no need to gatecrash this wedding.
Reviewed by Mayur Lookhar