Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana Movie Review: A Never-Ending Baraat Which Has Lost Its Way!

Plot

Laaddoo (Vivaan Shah) is a middle class ambitious lad whose dreams are as big as the Tatas and Birlas. After convincing his father, he moves down to Vadodara where he starts working as a waiter in his father's friend Kabir's cafetaria.

There one day, he bumps into Laali (Akshara Haasan) and immediately falls for her charm in slo-mo. The girl is a regular customer at Kabir's Cafe. Soon, they fall in love faster than a right swipe on Tinder and romantic numbers are thrown in the film at the speed of light. Before you could digest their contrived romance, the P-word drops in the conversation. Laali discovers that she is pregnant with Laaddoo's child. On the other hand, our lover boy gives her the most convenient solution since he prefers chasing his dreams rather than being a father.

'Main thappad khaane waali ladki nahi hu' says the girl and plants a slap on Laaddoo's face. Hearts are broken and you already know how where it's heading. But then what's a romantic film without a love triangle? So, there you have the Prince of Ramnagar, Veer (Gurmeet Choudhary) who decides to marry Laali but hey the reason for his 'so-called' noble act is ridiculous as hell. The man lost his parents and fiance in an accident and their family priest now wants him to tie the knot with a pregnant woman as it would be auspicious for his royal family (like seriously, dude!)

Meanwhile our lover boy is repenting his act and wants to patch with Laali. Who will she chose- Laaddoo or the stinky rich Veer.

Direction

Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana starts on a promising note but mid-way loses the plot. Director Manish Harishankar simply fails to get us emotionally invested in the film. Neither do the funny lines make you laugh after a while. At the runtime of about 134 minutes, it makes up for a tedious watch with its story overstretched like a bubblegum. Disappointingly, you start finding some solace in the picturesque locations in the film which could at least make it to your travel bucket list.

Performances

Vivaan Shah looks more like a high on hormones teenager and fails to move your heart except for a scene or two. Akshara Haasan disappoints as her weird facial expressions and squeaky voice totally puts you off. The duo's chemistry is as thanda as the snow-capped mountains behind them in their love songs. Gurmeet Choudhary looks lost and hardly gets to do much in the film except for some star gazing, playing golf and tending an injured horse.

Talented actors like Saurabh Shukla, Sanjai Mishra and Darshan Jariwala are merely reduced to caricatures but they still manage to infuse some humour.

And yes, how can we forget Kavitta Verma (her strikingly resemblance to Rakhi Sawant is just unmissable) who actually ends up in more frames that one could bear. At one point in the film, Laali bursts out at her character Palak and says, 'Stop irritating'. My friend, at that point you so wish that you could give a hi fi to Laali!

Technical Aspects

It's time filmmakers realise that setting up a film against a lavish backdrop doesn't make it good or guarantees box office success. There needs to be an equal emphasis on the script and characters too. Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana dangles on a flimsy plot and meaninglessly wanders here and there until it reaches the climax. By then, you stop caring what's happening to the lovebirds and just want the baby to pop out of Laali's tummy so that the curtains could drop. The editing scissors could have done a little more chop-chop.

Music

Despite having a royal grand wedding as the backdrop, the film doesn't have a single memorable song and lacks recall value. Instead it just hinders the narrative of the film and gives you some minutes to check your phone screens.

Verdict

This shaadi ka laddoo doesn't leave you with a pleasant taste in the mouth. Instead a trip to an actual wedding would do you more good for at least you return home back with a happy face. Towards the end, there is a family portrait moment in Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana where everyone flashes a smile and goes 'All is well'. Sadly, that's just not applicable to us post the watch!