More articles by

Shalini Singh
Shalini Singh

RUNNING SHAADI

Running Shaadi review: An average rom-com

running-shaadi

On a particularly reflective day, our journalism teacher told us in class once: “the way to India's national integration is through inter-caste marriages.” Seems like the film Running Shaadi has picked up on that idea and tried to run with it. The eternal theme of love, marriage and elopement that underlies this romantic comedy comes at a time when the government is contemplating a bill to curb marriage expenditure in the country.

Set in Amritsar, two youngsters, a Bihari, Amit Sadh as Ram Bharose, and a Sikh, Arsh Bajwa as Cyberjeet, team up to help runaway couples get married, in a planned, systematic manner, by launching a site called runningshaadi.com. (The dot com parts are beeped out, probably to not offend a popular matrimonial website.) The duo's heroes are American figures such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and they are looking for that one big idea to strike out on their own.

Bharose works in a bridal wear store and ends up befriending the owner's young daughter, Nimmi (Taapsee Pannu) but takes ages to muster up the courage to admit that he, too, is in love with her. In the meantime, their feelings for each other grow through moments of tender friendship, including helping her get an abortion after a frisky Valentine's Day adventure, and she lends him her credit card to start his venture.

Enter the new-age Indian sensitive man who isn't judgmental about his lover's past and enter the strong Indian woman unapologetic about her sexuality or love. Bits of humour come when the setting moves to Bharose's hometown in Bihar. Despite a good idea at its heart, the script at 114 minutes is unnecessarily stretched at several points and drops pace.

With average performances by the leads, it is a meandering sweet, well-intentioned film. Wonder what the 'keepers of culture' would have to say though.

Film: Running Shaadi

Director: Amit Roy

Cast: Amit Sadh, Arsh Bajwa, Taapsee Pannu

Rating: 2.5 / 5

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.
The Week

Topics : #Bollywood

Related Reading