Of love & simplicity

Gurnaaz Kaur

We’ve seen Ammy Virk and Sonam Bajwa together before in Nikka Zaildar series. So, when the viewers anticipated they would create the same magic again, it seemed only natural. Set in the ’60s, the movie, as the name suggests, revolves around Muklawa. 

But what is Muklawa? Back in the day, a newlywed woman has to stay back at her parent’s house till they were able to collect clothes and utensils etc to send with her. The tradition was such that both bride and groom were forbidden to see each other till the date of their Muklawa was decided. It could range anywhere between 10 days to 10 years (in case of a child marriage). 

This film is a story of Shinda (Ammy Virk), who can’t wait to romance his wife Taaro (Sonam Bajwa). Love in that era of simplicity didn’t come so easy. And this one after-wedding custom rules the storyline. 

The movie begins on a good note. Its opening scene gives you a glimpse of the approaching events and the song that plays the credit roll creates much excitement. Ammy Virk and his brother in the movie Sarabjit Cheema get married to sisters Sonam Bajwa and Drishti Grewal. While Sarabjit Cheema and Drishti are united right after marriage, Ammy is restless and inquisitive about when he will be able to bring home his wife. His innocence and childlike excitement is endearing and continues to amuse the viewers. 

Contrarily, Sonam hardly has enough screen time or dialogues. We see her mostly in Ammy’s dream sequences where he is imagining what it would like be to have his wife around. Comedy is embedded in conversations and one gets the right does of it, thanks to the characters played by Gurpreet Ghuggi, B N Sharma and Karamjit Anmol. 

At various points, Ghuggi’s character also feels as an extra but the actor knows how to make his presence felt. During the second half, the tone of the movie gets serious. Some unwarranted events, misunderstanding between families make the boy in Ammy to grow into a man. The movie at this point feels a bit stretched. It gets overbearing and one wonders when Ammy and Sonam will meet, as that’s all there is left to culminate the story. Overall, it could have been a better watch if the story was crisp; if Sonam’s character had some meat; if the melodrama of the two families towards the end was limited. The movie scores for Ammy’s honest performance. Sarabjit Cheema and Drishti Grewal too have done a good job of their roles. It’s a good attempt to depict an age-old tradition and love in all its innocence. 

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