3 stars
Siddharth Roy (Farhan Akhtar) is an urban renaissance man and wannabe music composer desperate to cut his own album. He falls head over heels for Trisha Mallik (Vidya Balan), an adventurous modern day woman but traditional at heart, and walks down the aisle heedless of the unwanted situations-to-be. Trisha is Sid's snuggle bunny. Their nuptial life seems to be blissful, until an 'unprotected' jiffy of enjoyment after 'dedh bottle scotch' turns their life upside down and a baby girl arrives. Sid is not ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood as his career as a musician has still not taken off. But in order to avoid the conflict, he hides his disinclination. He starts trying hard to balance his professional and personal life. The love starts petering out because of the end of their adorable 'husband and wife' life. Trisha, on the other hand, turns into an idiosyncratic, compassionate, impulsive and irritable wife cum full-time mama. When Sid, utterly harried, realizes that he couldn't outstay potty talk and spousal spasms, he starts seeking advice from Trisha's brother-in-law (Ram Kapoor). How he manages his life afterwards and how their derailed chemistry ameliorates, forms the denouement.
First things first! The film starts off with a sequence where the leads are shown playing an enkindling game in a pub crammed with people. *Only this particular scene* seems ripped off from Hollywood film Four Christmases (2008). However, as luck would have it, the movie vindicates itself as the reels unfold. The story (Saket Chaudhary & Zeenat Lakhani) is delineated in an assuaging misogynous way, with Farhan’s voiceover to substantiate the *male side* of the script. But the peppy, tongue-in-cheek and realistic dialogues (Arshad Sayed) make this sitcom consummately palpable, without skewing towards the serious zone of female hatred. The relatable screenplay (Saket Chaudhary, Zeenat Lakhani & Arshad Sayed) is heavily inspired from real life instances and it won't be erroneous to state that the film is so rich in mirthful dialogues/situations that watching Sid and Trisha fight over issues of no/little importance or having their share of problems will connect the spectators to the extent that the viewers will bear comparison with their own lives. In the first half, the lead pair's vicissitude from a loved-up duo to sleep-deprived parents along with their epigrammatic conversations, is gratifying to a tee. The director (Saket Chaudhary), only with his second outing, deserves a pat on his back for striking a uniform balance between emotion (leaving aside sea of schmaltz) and hilarity, without making this slice-of-marriage story ho-hum or repetitious. Being a married man himself, Saket raises some apposite questions that drive a wedge between married couples which could bring the marriage to a premature end but at the same time, he puts forward tricks galore to keep the relationship going without having to grin and bear it. His direction is especial. Saket's real achievement lies in the fact that the protagonists look so married onscreen and exhibit delectably subtle performances without looking holier-than-thou or over-rehearsed. Manoj Lobo is apt in cinematographing Australia’s Gold Coast and India's locales. Jayati Bose (costume designer) is a consummate master of outfits, avowedly. Sukant Panigrahy's production design is exquisite/befitting, throughout. The concoction of art, costumes, make-up and cinematography provide a vivid splash of different hues. The situational satire in the first half is sure to bring the house down. The content lives up to the hype and hoopla out-and-out, only in the *first half* itself.
Mikey McCleary's background score and Ayush Ahuja's sound design enliven the mood at every single juncture. Pritam Chakraborty's foot-tapping music coupled with comme il faut lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Mayur Puri and Ankur Tiwari gel well with the subject matter, especially "Atyachari" and "Vyah Kar k" songs. Remo D'Souza and Rajeev Surti's choreography blends dance into an idiom that's both witty and sheer romantic.
On the grey side, clocking on the dot at 145 minutes, the movie unfolds at a leisurely pace that acts as killjoy. To give the narration some heft on man-woman equation, some of the scenes of marital woes are deliberately overstretched towards the second half. For instance, Vir Das' sequences. Predictability in the plot is a damper too. The peripheral characters seem to be written on the spur of the moment. The song in Australia is unwanted.
Farhan Akhtar is on a reinventing spree. Post the virtuoso performance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), he upped his ante to enact a confused husband/new dad with impeccable comic timing and slips into the role with elan. One can't imagine the movie without him, especially his straight-faced pun. One can't take his/her eyes off from him, as well. Vidya Balan evidently picks up roles that compliment her acting abilities and add to her versatile repertoire of work. Though her dominant housewife role is repetitive [remember Ghanchakkar (2013)], her over-protective mom act is of the highest standard. At the same time, she handles the dramatic sequences with dexterity. Ram Kapoor, who keeps on teaching his son new languages, is a stunner and delivers it bang on, particularly towards the closing stages. Purab Kohli's role is an elaborated version of his tv nescafe commercial, that's it. Vir Das provides ample guffaws. Ila Arun as the educated, matriarchal nanny is first-rate. Gautami Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Nitesh Pandey as Mr. Madhok and Farhan's buddies -- all 3 of them -- are competent.
Single or married, do yourself a favor: Watch Shaadi Ke Side/Effects. It's amusingly enlightening, nothing like you have seen in a long...very long time. The film has tremendous appeal to take lessons on marriage. Just buy into Sid & Trisha's marriage frenzy. Right on!
first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/shaadi-ke-side-effects/md2443.htm
Siddharth Roy (Farhan Akhtar) is an urban renaissance man and wannabe music composer desperate to cut his own album. He falls head over heels for Trisha Mallik (Vidya Balan), an adventurous modern day woman but traditional at heart, and walks down the aisle heedless of the unwanted situations-to-be. Trisha is Sid's snuggle bunny. Their nuptial life seems to be blissful, until an 'unprotected' jiffy of enjoyment after 'dedh bottle scotch' turns their life upside down and a baby girl arrives. Sid is not ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood as his career as a musician has still not taken off. But in order to avoid the conflict, he hides his disinclination. He starts trying hard to balance his professional and personal life. The love starts petering out because of the end of their adorable 'husband and wife' life. Trisha, on the other hand, turns into an idiosyncratic, compassionate, impulsive and irritable wife cum full-time mama. When Sid, utterly harried, realizes that he couldn't outstay potty talk and spousal spasms, he starts seeking advice from Trisha's brother-in-law (Ram Kapoor). How he manages his life afterwards and how their derailed chemistry ameliorates, forms the denouement.
First things first! The film starts off with a sequence where the leads are shown playing an enkindling game in a pub crammed with people. *Only this particular scene* seems ripped off from Hollywood film Four Christmases (2008). However, as luck would have it, the movie vindicates itself as the reels unfold. The story (Saket Chaudhary & Zeenat Lakhani) is delineated in an assuaging misogynous way, with Farhan’s voiceover to substantiate the *male side* of the script. But the peppy, tongue-in-cheek and realistic dialogues (Arshad Sayed) make this sitcom consummately palpable, without skewing towards the serious zone of female hatred. The relatable screenplay (Saket Chaudhary, Zeenat Lakhani & Arshad Sayed) is heavily inspired from real life instances and it won't be erroneous to state that the film is so rich in mirthful dialogues/situations that watching Sid and Trisha fight over issues of no/little importance or having their share of problems will connect the spectators to the extent that the viewers will bear comparison with their own lives. In the first half, the lead pair's vicissitude from a loved-up duo to sleep-deprived parents along with their epigrammatic conversations, is gratifying to a tee. The director (Saket Chaudhary), only with his second outing, deserves a pat on his back for striking a uniform balance between emotion (leaving aside sea of schmaltz) and hilarity, without making this slice-of-marriage story ho-hum or repetitious. Being a married man himself, Saket raises some apposite questions that drive a wedge between married couples which could bring the marriage to a premature end but at the same time, he puts forward tricks galore to keep the relationship going without having to grin and bear it. His direction is especial. Saket's real achievement lies in the fact that the protagonists look so married onscreen and exhibit delectably subtle performances without looking holier-than-thou or over-rehearsed. Manoj Lobo is apt in cinematographing Australia’s Gold Coast and India's locales. Jayati Bose (costume designer) is a consummate master of outfits, avowedly. Sukant Panigrahy's production design is exquisite/befitting, throughout. The concoction of art, costumes, make-up and cinematography provide a vivid splash of different hues. The situational satire in the first half is sure to bring the house down. The content lives up to the hype and hoopla out-and-out, only in the *first half* itself.
Mikey McCleary's background score and Ayush Ahuja's sound design enliven the mood at every single juncture. Pritam Chakraborty's foot-tapping music coupled with comme il faut lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Mayur Puri and Ankur Tiwari gel well with the subject matter, especially "Atyachari" and "Vyah Kar k" songs. Remo D'Souza and Rajeev Surti's choreography blends dance into an idiom that's both witty and sheer romantic.
On the grey side, clocking on the dot at 145 minutes, the movie unfolds at a leisurely pace that acts as killjoy. To give the narration some heft on man-woman equation, some of the scenes of marital woes are deliberately overstretched towards the second half. For instance, Vir Das' sequences. Predictability in the plot is a damper too. The peripheral characters seem to be written on the spur of the moment. The song in Australia is unwanted.
Farhan Akhtar is on a reinventing spree. Post the virtuoso performance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), he upped his ante to enact a confused husband/new dad with impeccable comic timing and slips into the role with elan. One can't imagine the movie without him, especially his straight-faced pun. One can't take his/her eyes off from him, as well. Vidya Balan evidently picks up roles that compliment her acting abilities and add to her versatile repertoire of work. Though her dominant housewife role is repetitive [remember Ghanchakkar (2013)], her over-protective mom act is of the highest standard. At the same time, she handles the dramatic sequences with dexterity. Ram Kapoor, who keeps on teaching his son new languages, is a stunner and delivers it bang on, particularly towards the closing stages. Purab Kohli's role is an elaborated version of his tv nescafe commercial, that's it. Vir Das provides ample guffaws. Ila Arun as the educated, matriarchal nanny is first-rate. Gautami Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Nitesh Pandey as Mr. Madhok and Farhan's buddies -- all 3 of them -- are competent.
Single or married, do yourself a favor: Watch Shaadi Ke Side/Effects. It's amusingly enlightening, nothing like you have seen in a long...very long time. The film has tremendous appeal to take lessons on marriage. Just buy into Sid & Trisha's marriage frenzy. Right on!
first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/shaadi-ke-side-effects/md2443.htm
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