Title: विवाह Vivah
English Title:
- Marriage
- A Journey from Engagement to Marriage
Language: Hindi
Year: 2006
Cast:
- शाहिद कपूर Shahid Kapoor
- अमृता राव Amrita Nao
SYNOPSIS
Poonam was an orphan and she was taken in by her uncle Krishna Kant and her aunt Rama. Poonam is close to her uncle and her cousin Choti but she has a distant relationship with her aunt. Poonam's aunt is resentful of her niece's extraordinary beauty, especially since her daughter Choti has ordinary and unremarkable looks.
Prem has just started working for his father's company and he wants to prove himself in his professional life. Prem's father Harish Chandra encourages him to get married soon but Prem wants to focus on establishing his career first while he is young.
Bhagat-ji is a jeweller and a common friend of Poonam's uncle Krishna Kant and Prem's father Harish Chandra. Bhagat-ji introduces Poonam and Prem to each other, hoping that the two will eventually consider marriage with each other.
Prem, together with his family and Bhagat-ji, goes to Poonam's house to meet her and her family. Although their interaction with each other is initially awkward, they both decide to get married because they are attracted to each other.
REVIEW
Vivah has a simple and fairly straightforward story line: two people are introduced to each other, then they get engaged and fall in love, and eventually get married (yes, that's the proper order of things in the movie!). Basically, the movie shows what happens during Prem and Poonam's engagement period, where they get to know each other and find ways to spend time with each other given the strict society and the cultural rules they have to live with.
The movie has a very utopian feel and mindset: Prem and Poonam go through an arranged marriage but they also fall in love, Prem's family does not demand a dowry from Poonam's family (although brides usually have to come with a dowry in India), everyone is happy about the engagement of Prem and Poonam, etc. I think the reason why I find the movie refreshing is also the reason why I find it a little disturbing; everything goes perfectly well for the lead characters and although this is how most people would like their lives to be like, it is just too good to be true.
Given that the plot is fairly simple and the characters do not really have to go through any development whatsoever, the movie is nothing extraordinary although it is somewhat interesting. I think most people would appreciate the movie if they are in the romantic frame of mind; otherwise, they may not find the movie worth watching.
I'm a little disappointed with the song and dance productions in the movie because it only involves the two lead characters. One of my favorite parts in a Bollywood movie is when the two lead characters are in a party and everyone is just having fun, singing and dancing together with other people.
The best thing about the movie is Shahid Kapoor, in my opinion. Although I have watched Bollywood films in the past, I don't think he was already acting then. I recently got back into watching Bollywood films and I have to say that one of the driving factors would have to be Shahid Kapoor. While looking for Bollywood films to watch, I found a streaming video of a song and dance production from one of his movies, which led me to his profile. Needless to say, I'm currently planning to go through most of his movie projects.
###
विवाह Vivah
