Exclusive review – Ginny Weds Sunny – Yami Gautam shines in this feel good predictable film that lends a sense of deja vu
First things first. Ten years back, Ginny Weds Sunny would have come across as a far more entertaining film than it does currently. In the years gone by, there have been so many films put together in the same genre (feel good realistic romance), stage (either the girl or the boy is confused in life) and setting (Punjabi households in Delhi).
Tanu Weds Manu, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Luka Chuppi, Jai Munny Di, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, Ujda Chman – the list is long. Pick a moment from here, sprinkle it with the moment from there and garnish it with something spicy from the other – That’s how Ginny Weds Sunny has been put together by first time director Puneet Khanna, an erstwhile assistant to directors as distinct as Zoya Akhtar [Luck By Chance], Ashutosh Gowariker [Jodhaa Akbar] and Farhan Akhtar [Don]. He doesn’t do a bad job by any means; it’s just that original scenes are far and few.
The core plot does show promise. The guy [Vikrant Massey] doesn’t believe in affairs and wants to get married pronto; for him love is when you stay together. The girl [Yami Gautam], a neighbor in Karol Bagh, has an ex-boyfriend [Suhail Nayyar] with whom she is still friendly and hasn’t quite moved on. Vikrant wants to be own a restaurant, Yami is already selling insurance policies. Both love Haldiram samosas though and if not for the bit of (very solvable) complications that come in, the two could well have been made for each other.
“The two of you are ‘correct’ for each other“, exclaims Ayesha Raza, playing Yami’s mother. The irony is that she runs a marriage bureau but isn’t quite able to convince her daughter about the man who is right for her. On the other hand Vikrant wonders whether a relationship is possible after all if the third angle in the love story would stay in existence.
It’s just that the film takes around two hours to come to an expected conclusion, hence being around 15 minutes too long. Not that there aren’t sweet and heartwarming moments in there. If you are willing to let go of Vikran’s apparent ‘attempt’ at playing a Punjabi in hardcore commercial style, you can get connected to the story. After all, Vikrant is good when he is being Vikrant and that’s something that indeed happens when the dramatic portions begin.
However, the star of the show is Yami Gautam. She is someone who is beauty with substance and she shines all over again in Ginny Weds Sunny. Be it pulling Vikrant’s leg time and again, or the casual relationship that she enjoys with her mother or the manner in which she ticks off Suhail later in the film or the breakdown scene at the Gurdwara in the pre-climax, she shows all over again that there is so much more that she has to offer film after film. Also, thankfully Suhail is not a pushover either. He doesn’t overdo the ‘jaat’ stereotype and balances it well.
Had the film too been a largely balanced affair then it would have turned out to be far more engaging and exciting right through its duration. In this case, the moments come and go in an oscillating manner, which means at certain places you actually go wow, especially at the heartwarming scenes, at others you feel predictability so much on your face (read: the climax) that you wonder why there wasn’t more effort spent on writing. As for the portions in between these extremes, there is a deja vu of several such films, though you don’t mind as it is formulaic.
The film has premiered on Netflix as straight-to-OTT release, which means it will get good enough eyeballs. Considering the fact that it is an easy breezy affair, you can actually give this one a dekko. It may be predictable, but then it is feel good, and in these tense times this is fair enough relief.