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Vivah
Cast: Shahid Kapur, Amrita Rao Direction: Sooraj Barjatya
Rating: **
It is no national secret. In Sooraj Barjataya's land we can find gold-plated jilebis, barrels of rabdi, kesar milk shakes, chocolate flakes, halwa, sheera, jam, honey and above all Alok Nath load-shedding tears at the drop of a huge glycerine bottle.
All these vital components are back in Vivah. Only Himani Shivpuri, Huma Khan, Tuffy the Dog and Cartoon the Parrot are conspicuous absentees.
However, we can still depend on compulsory rendezvous on terrace tops, a child actor permanently saying, "Cheesey", goody bhabhis, kind millionaires, antique shop tape recorders, a game in the bright green garden and a freak accident which ruins it all.
If in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, the forgotten Renuka Shahane tumbled down a killer staircase, something similarly drastic happens again but we will not tell you what and when.
Having said that, the vegetarian formula of nice people leading nice lives does have its share of nutritional value. It warms the cockles of our hearts to learn that a very prominent business family of Delhi (unrealistically, they reside in a Madh island bungalow) is very good at clinching deals with the Japanese and the Swiss.
The business group, spearheaded by jolly old Anupam Kher, also finalise a vivah (therefore, the title) between the junior family scion (Shahid Kapur) and a simple, simpering girl (Amrita Rao) of a village called Madhupur, which could be anywhere between Filmistan studio and Manali.
The Madh Madh Madh millionaires are joyous about the impending marriage. Meanwhile, the young pair behave like a platonic pair of peaches.
Lots of reels are over by now, we wonder what the fuss is all about, why Alok Nath and Anupam Kher are constantly hugging each other as if they had just seen Brokeback Mountain, and what is wrong with Seema Biswas who behaves like Kaikeyi.
Her biological daughter is dark complexioned, Amrita Rao is not, which makes our Bandit Mamma very backdated and complexed.
No one is going to tell her about her colour prejudice, even if that is a reversal of shades from Bimal Roy's Sujata. No one is going to carp about the elements of Raj Kapoor's Satyam Shivam Sundaram either.
After all, it is so wonderful to see that everyone but Bandit ma, exude the milkshake of human kindness. Moreover, Ravinder Jain's outdated music blares in the background whenever a "hum katha sunate hain" effect is required.
Advancing clean-cut values is fine, but not when they are contrived and are dragged on by Barjatya till kingdom come. The writer-director is quaint but who needs a Quentin Tarintino in this age when conditions around us reveal something else?
We do like some parts of Vivah (the family bonding scenes). But for the rest of the way we are stuffed with sugar. The sets are from a lost previous century, the costumes try very hard to be trendy when they are not glitteringly traditional.
Keeping our interest rooted, is Amrita Rao, coy and cute. But without Shahid Kapur, we would have surely not stayed till the end.
Kapur is outstanding and certainly deserves to be seen much more often. He is the prime reason to see this banquet of just desserts.
