Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana Movie Review: Vivaan And Akshara's Love Story Brings On The Smiles

There is something about a new lead pairing, especially when supported by writing that is light hearted with some sweet moments thrown in. This is what turns out to be the highlight of Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana that has its best parts woven around scenes where Vivaan Shah and Akshara Haasan come together on screen. Both actors have done one notable film each - Happy New Year and Shamitabh respectively. They were surrounded by senior actors in both films though, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan respectively. Now that they are coming together in their first ever film where they are the central protagonists, all eyes are on them to get it right for the big screen. After all, the film is being driven by their pairing. Fortunately, they do not disappoint and even though you do wish that they had more time together (especially in the second half), you still like what plays on screen.

Directed by Manish Harishankar, the film has an unusual plot with a different narrative. The film starts straight with a twin wedding that is about to take place and in the process comes to the point without much of a hullabaloo. Vivaan and Akshara, though in love with each other, are getting married to different people (Kavitta Verma and Gurmeet Choudhary respectively) and within first 5 minutes it is also revealed that the unborn baby carried by Akshara is Vivaan's. From this point on, the film goes in a back and forth narrative as Vivaan and Akshara get into the flashback mode, hence taking viewer into the back-story of what truly happened. Even as Manish keeps the audiences guessing about what would happen next, veterans in the tale - Saurabh Shukla, Darshan Jariwala and Sanjay Mishra - keep the humor quotient up with their characteristic act.

This is what keeps the film going well for the first half of the film and there are more fun elements added with a quirky character (Ravi Kishan) coming on the scene. He is really good in each of his scenes and actually brings the house down when a revelation is made by Vivaan around Akshara. Meanwhile, you like the manner in which the romantic tale of the young couple materializes and the coming together of realistic appeal with some rib tickling moments keep you largely entertained. There is a point in the film where drama takes over the proceedings as well, hence setting the stage for the second half.

This is the point of the film where the veteran actors take over the stage. Sanjay Mishra brings on chuckles with some good dialogues helping the cause. Also, Saurabh Shukla is effective in a couple of very important scenes. Surprisingly though, Akshara goes missing for a major part of the second half and though Vivaan is there on the scene and so is Gurmeet, the girl who is the focal point gets minimum screen time. As a matter of fact when she is shown to be quite a firebrand in the first half, it is surprising to see everyone around her making decisions in the second half (till just at the end when she speaks up). The dramatic portions in the last 15 minutes are a little stretched too and the celebration song just before that could have been done away with. That said, the romantic songs are well placed in the film, especially Bezubaan and Rishta.

The film has right production values for a subject and cast like this and the producers (T.P. Aggarwal, Rahul Aggarwal) have done well to choose an unlikely city (Baroda) for the film's shooting. A major part has actually been shot at Laxmi Vilas Palace and what impresses is that rather than going for any cheat shots, the shooting has actually happened extensively both inside and outside the palace. The songs too have come out well, especially the cinematography of Rishta.

Amongst actors, Vivaan has already shown his good comic timing in Happy New Year and in Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana, he is required to play a goofy character, which he does well. In the dramatic portions he needs to get more controlled though. Akshara has a natural charm about her and she can do even better in roles where she is required to be non-filmy. Gurmeet has more of a supporting role and he is decent and constrained. Sanjay Mishra brings on the laughs in every scene of his, Saurabh Shukla is good, especially in pre-climax where he has a monologue in presence of Akshara while Darshan Jariwala is reliable. Ravi Kishan is very good.

On the whole, Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laaddoo Deewana works as a light hearted harmless flick which can be given an easy smile-through watch.