Veere Di Wedding

About the film

Veere Di Wedding (transl. Brother's wedding) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language female buddy comedy film directed by Shashanka Ghosh and produced by Rhea Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Nikhil Dwivedi. The film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania in lead roles as four friends attending a wedding, with Sumeet Vyas, Vishwas Kini, Neena Gupta and others in supporting roles.

Veere Di Wedding was released theatrically on 1 June 2018 and generally panned by critics. Made on a budget of ₹28,000,000 (equivalent to ₹37,459,546 in 2023), the film earned over ₹139,000,000 (equivalent to ₹185,959,888 in 2023) worldwide to emerge as the fifth highest grossing Hindi film of the year, and the highest for a film featuring female leads. It received three Nominations at the 64th Filmfare Awards including Best Supporting Actress for Talsania and Bhaskar.

Plot

The story is about four friends, all young women, who are facing issues with relationships, both familial and sexual.

Kalindi has been living with her boyfriend, Rishabh, for two years in Australia, but she has a phobia about marriage and professes theoretical opposition to the idea of marriage. Her parents used to fight a lot, and her father, Kishan, remarried soon after her mother's death. When Rishabh proposes to her, Kalindi is taken aback, but then agrees to the marriage for Rishabh's happiness. Avni is a practising lawyer in Delhi whose specialization is divorce cases. Her mother is looking for a suitable groom for her, but Avni's daily professional experience makes her very nervous about marriage. Sakshi is already married but is living with her parents after moving out of her husband's home. The reasons for her break up with her husband are not known at this point. Meera has married an American, John, with whom she has a son named Kabir. Her father, also named Kabir, was intensely opposed to the marriage for cultural reasons. Meera is still estranged from her father, and though she misses him, she refuses to meet him until he accepts John and her son.

Kalindi travels to Delhi to get married, and stays with her uncle Kuki and his partner for these few weeks. Kishan and his current wife, Paromita, offer to help Kalindi in her wedding, though she remains disinterested. Kalindi is overwhelmed by Rishabh's affectionate, wholesome family and their deep, supportive involvement with each other. She is disturbed by the fact that they place way too much importance on the religious ceremonies connected to a Hindu wedding and on the significance of each ritual. She finds this cloying and thinks they will expect a lot from her after marriage, as she has always cherished her independence and individualism. Rishabh's family are surprised at the fact that Kalindi hardly seems to have any family, that she is even estranged from Kishan, and that the rather weird Kuki is unmarried and has a live-in partner.

Production

In December 2015, Sonam Kapoor indicated that she would be working on a project with her sister Rhea Kapoor. The project was officially announced in June 2016.

The project was delayed due to Kareena Kapoor Khan's pregnancy. Principal photography began in September 2017. Swara Bhaskar, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shikha Talsania agreed to act in the film. Pakistani actor Danish Taimoor was initially cast as Rishabh opposite Kareena Kapoor Khan with dates finalised for filming; however delays due to Kapoor Khan's pregnancy and rising tensions between India and Pakistan caused him to pull out of the film. Sumeet Vyas replaced him.

The film was shot in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangkok. The project underwent three major schedules in Delhi, Mumbai and Phuket.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Shashwat Sachdev, Vishal Mishra and White Noise while the lyrics are penned by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Raj Shekhar, Qaran, Rupin Pahwa, White Noise, Shashwat Sachdev, Badshah, Shellee and Gaurav Solanki. The first song of the film, Tareefan which is sung by Badshah was released on 2 May 2018. The soundtrack was released by Zee Music Company on 8 May 2018.

Reception

Veere Di Wedding had net earnings of ₹107 million (equivalent to ₹140 million or US$1.5 million in 2023) on its first day in India, setting the record for the highest opening day collection for a Hindi film with female protagonist(s).

Several critics noted the film's similarities to the television series Sex and the City.

Comparisons were also drawn with the comedy Bridesmaids (2011), Bachelorette (2012) and the Indian television miniseries The Trip (2016). On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10.

Sequel

Veere Di Wedding 2, is currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key details