REVIEW: SHAADISTAN

Producer-Director- Raj Singh Chaudhary

Star Cast- Kirti Kulhari, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Medha Shankar, Rajan Modi & Kay Kay Menon

Genre- Social

Platform- Disney Plus Hotstar

Rating- **1/2

Jyothi Venkatesh

The sweet little heartwarming film is essentially about what happens when tradition meets modernity and revolves around the lives of progressive and modern crooner Sasha (Kirti Kulhari) who leads her fusion rock band and the regressive (read traditional) bhabhiji / auntiji – mom (played by Nivedita Bhattacharya) of a daughter (Medha Shankar) who’s about to hit the age of 18 in a day and is about to be forced into getting engaged on the same day when her cousin is getting marrid.

It is about the sad state of affairs when the over possessive Papaji (Rajan Modi) is more bothered about what people will say in society than the interests of his daughter and spouse.

Though the story is as old as the hills, what saves the film from being dubbed as a boring monologue in preserving our traditional values is the way it has been treated by the writer cum producer-director Raj Singh Chaudhary with finesse though there are loopholes in the screenplay.

The 2 diverge as well as distinctive worlds of Sasha and the lady’s mom are properly coined with the fusion of rock and Rajasthani folks throughout the bus journey and there are times when your eyes turn watery with the emotional dialogues

The film which has been designed with an eye on women empowerment drives home the pertinent message that women ought to be given the freedom to pursue whatever career they wish to take up and also drink beer if they feel like it, though in a rushed manner especially since the director does not want to take a moral stand on his own.

Kirti Kulhari stands out on her own as the modern no words minced pragmatic young singer who leads an independent life of her own though it is difficult to digest the fact that she earns a cool two and a half lakhs rupees per month by being a part of the band as the singer .

Nivedita Bhattacharya who is seen on screen after a long time scores with her wide range of talent as an actress as the mother who is sandwiched between her traditional and conservative old fashioned husband and her modern young 17 year old daughter.

Medha Shankar as the cute and confused and scared daughter is a promising discovery. Rajan Modi as the father is just about okay and even in terms of her role and its dimension; he does not have much of a scope in the film.

The less said about the role of Kay Kay Menon, the better as the actor has been wasted in an insignificant role which does not do justice either to the film or for that matter to himself as an actor.

On the whole, Shaadistan, which has a running time of just about an hour and a half, is a heartwarming film which does not provide a wholesome solution to the problem in society as the director wants to play safe but is nevertheless worth seeing