Anti-marriage it is not, but a comic tale for sure

Gurnaaz Kaur

The story opens with a carefree man Chadta (Diljit Dosanjh) being pressurised by his parents to get married. They try everything to find him a suitable match but nothing works. A wedding photographer by profession, this desi jatt faces jibes from everyone in his village for being a shadaa, which means bachelor in Punjabi, who has almost crossed the marriageable age. His desperation to get married is well reflected in the humorous dialogues and within the first half an hour of the movie, he falls in love with Vanjhali (Neeru Bajwa), a wedding planner. While Vanjhali is happily unmarried at 31 and propagates ‘Ek aurat nu bande di ohni hi lor hundi hai jinni ek machhi nu cycle di’ (A woman needs a man only as much as a fish needs a bicycle). His love at first sight soon turns into a realisation that marriage would be a wrong bet. Reason—he finds out about the difference in backgrounds. Neeru, a city-bred girl, is too modern for him. She doesn’t know cooking, drinks at parties, has male friends. On the other hand, Diljit is a village boy, who feels these habits would mean everyday-fights. He eventually comes to believe, ‘Ek bande nu aurat di ohni lor hundi hai jinni ek dadu nu rajai di’ (A man needs a woman only as much as a frog needs a quilt). 

These statements don’t carry any weight as none of it is reflected in their behaviours. Anyway, now, this being his new mantra of life, he begins with antics to convince his parents that getting him married would mean inviting trouble in their life. Being Diljit, he does find a way to show his ‘love’ for Kylie Jenner by naming his doll after her. The tagline of the movie, “Kutta hovey jehda vyah krave” is rather derogatory and is contrary to the story.

You may think it preaches singlehood but you’ll soon be proved wrong. The minute Chadta finds out that Vanjhali is getting married, he tries every trick under the sun to break that marriage and become the groom himself. What follows is his struggle that’s peppered with funny dialogues and crazy situations. What stands out about this usual story is the wit and humour. From the word go, this film is a laugh riot. While Diljit is loud and silly, Neeru’s acting is subtle and she looks pretty. The supporting cast too has done a fabulous job. Sonam’s cameo is also noticeable and Jagdeep Sandhu is excellent.