The lockdown situation has disrupted people’s lives like no other thing in the recent past has. While it has brought our social and professional lives to a halt, it has compelled many people to think of innovative ways to go about their work or try alternate methods of doing things they have been doing in the pre-lockdown period. It is not possible for filmmakers to assemble a team and shoot something given the social distancing norms we are to follow. But, Shreya Dhanwanthary, who has written and directed the digital show ‘A Viral Wedding’ has achieved to do exactly that. She managed to put together a show without her any of her team members bypassing the lockdown directives issued by the Government.
‘A Viral Wedding’, which started streaming on Eros Now last week, was shot after the lockdown was enforced. Nisha (Shreya Dhanwanthary), a social media influencer, is about to get married to her boyfriend Rishabh (Amol Parashar) in three weeks. It is touted to be a lavish wedding and guests are supposed to come from different parts of the country to attend it. Nisha is excited – about the wedding and the fact that she will be taking her ‘followers’ through this journey. Things come to a standstill as the couple realises that a large number of the guests would not be able to make it because of the lockdown. She is upset but then, she gets the idea of getting married online.
The fact that an entire series (this is a micro series, alright!) was shot during this period sounds very exciting. But since there are a bunch of challenges associated with pulling off something like this, makes one wonder whether the quality of the content would be upto the mark. The good news is that it is not just a novel show, it is an engaging one too. Shreya, perhaps, did the right thing by not getting too ambitious and writing a bunch of episodes that would not be too difficult to shoot. The story is simple but engaging and pans out well across eight episodes, the duration of which ranges from seven minutes to ten minutes. The moments filled with warmth tug at your heartstrings and the humour works.
Apart from writing and directing the show well, Shreya Dhanwanthary delivers a very confident performance. Amol Parashar has always had a likeable presence about him. That works very well for the character he has played here. Sharib Hashmi brings the house down in several of the scenes he appears in. His performance is first-rate and his lines as the ‘UP from MP’ are hilarious. Sunny Hinduja gets a bunch of scenes to shine as the responsible elder brother/son and he does very well as a performer. Mohit Raina does well in a cameo. Sonali Sachdev, Aritro Banerjee and Aishwarya Choudhary play their parts well.
‘A Viral Wedding’ is an innovate effort in filmmaking. Shreya and the entire team has managed to make an entertaining show despite the constraints and this should pave the way for many other filmmakers and artistes to create something unique and engaging in this period. Perhaps, the next step should be to make a film or a show which is not set in the current times but is made while adhering to the lockdown guidelines.