Shaadisthan

Last updated

Shaadisthan
Shaadisthan.jpg
Poster
Directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary
Written by
    • Raj Singh Chaudhary
    • Kartik Chaudhry
    • Nishank Verma
Produced by
    • Anant Roongta
    • Sanjay Shekhar Shetty
Starring
Cinematography Sushil Rajpal
Edited by Aarti Bajaj
Music by
Production
companies
  • Famous Studios
  • Opticus INC
Distributed by Disney+ Hotstar
Release date
  • 11 June 2021 (2021-06-11)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Shaadisthan is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language drama musical film directed by Raj Singh Chaudhary starring Kirti Kulhari. The film is produced under the production company Famous Digital Studio and distributed by Disney+ Hotstar Multiplex. The story is based on women's empowerment.

Contents

Plot

Arshi and her parents are bound to travel from Mumbai to Ajmer for her cousin Cholu's wedding but they miss their flight. Arshi who was unwilling to travel to the wedding had earlier gone into hiding at her friend's place, but she returns after her mother pleads with her on the phone to do so. Cholu tells Arshi's father Papaji that his friend's music troupe is travelling on their bus to Ajmer to perform at his wedding and that he has arranged their travel with them. The next day Arshi and her parents reach the scheduled place and start their journey. Her father disapproves of the troupe's habits such as using expletives, drinking and smoking early in the morning.

Sasha is the lead singer of the troupe. Imad and Jigme are other members and are courteous towards the family. Sasha is a modern girl who calls a spade a spade and hits back at Papaji when he casually remarks that their music is noise. Arshi is in a sombre mood and does not speak when the troupe members try to interact with her. This further angers Papaji. However his wife tries to calm down his nerves. Slowly, the ice between Arshi's parents and the troupe breaks and they start interacting freely.

Somewhere in the afternoon, they halt in the middle of the highway to take a break. As the troupe members are outside and the family is inside the bus, Papaji scolds Arshi for her stone-cold attitude. Arshi cannot take it anymore and runs out in the open and cries her heart out. The troupe members try to console her. She tells them that she would turn 18 the next day and would get engaged at the wedding ceremony of Cholu. The troupe members are shocked but realise that they are helpless. Arshi tells them that she had run away to her friend's place, but could not see her mother crying and pleading, so she returned. Her mother cares about Arshi, but has silently submitted herself to the archaic societal practices. Her parents are under the pressure of being ostractised from their extended family and social circle if they do not follow traditional rites. Arshi tells them that on one side she cannot see her mother crying and pleading to her and on the other end she cannot imagine her future with an unknown person at such tender age.

In the evening when they enter Udaipur, Papaji gets down for personal work and the rest of them take a detour to the hotel of Tiger, a mutual friend and plan to rest for an hour or so. Tiger is a gracious host and strikes a chord with Arshi's mother who was initially reluctant to get out of the bus. All of them have a good time at the hotel with some dance and music. Later we see the troupe in deep slumber at a Dhaba. The owner of the Dhaba answers the call on Arshi's mother's phone and wakes her up. Cholu who had called her tells her that Papaji is trying to connect them for a long time and tells her to send him their location immediately. She runs towards the bus and finds everyone asleep. She wakes up Arshi and she sends Papaji the location of the place. Jigme later realises that Tiger had laced their tea with Opium, which everyone seems to have enjoyed. Arshi's mother and Sasha start cooking dinner because the Dhaba has run out of food. While cooking, Sasha confronts her with very pointed and intimate questions and for most of them, she has a negative answer. Finally, she acknowledges that she has followed societal norms dedicated towards family and in this process completely forgotten about her intimate and personal feelings. Sasha tells her that being a free-spirited girl, she admires her sacrifices for the family but indirectly questions if she would want the same fate for Arshi.

After an eventful journey the next day they reach the wedding venue and settle in their respective rooms. On the eve of the wedding, Papaji faces humiliation from his sister and brother-in-law because he brought just half a million rupees for the wedding, while they were expecting at least 2-3 times that amount. They remind him that because of their efforts they are able to marry their daughter in a reputed family. He is deeply hurt by this humiliation and forced to rethink his understanding of the societal structure and his daughter's future. Arshi tells the troupe that she wants to spend the night with them. Sasha conveys this to her mother and they continue their discussion from the previous night. She does acknowledge the merit in her argument and at the same time expresses that, like music notes, everyone has a different approach to life. Later in the night, Arshi's parents have an intimate conversation after a long time and Arshi's mother tells Papaji that from the bottom of her heart she truly does not care about the societal norms, which also strikes a chord with him.

The next day we see the entire family happily boarding the music troupe's bus back to Mumbai.

Cast

Reception

Lakshana N Palat of The Indian Express gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "In her role as Sasha, Kirti Kulhari just glowers at others, directing a snarky comment at anyone who interferes in her space. But she’s the heroine in the show, and you know you have to root for her." [1] Ronak Kotecha of Times of India gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "Shaadisthan embarks on the road less taken, but never reaches its destination to truly engage and entertain its audience." [2] ABP Live gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated, "That, though, is clearly not enough an attraction to make this film interesting. Shaadisthan is the story that ought to be told right now -- only, not in the way they ended up doing it." [3] Rahul Sharma of BollywoodLife gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "All the actors have also given excellent performances and presented the emotional scenes beautifully. If you are with your family in Corona, then definitely watch Shaadisthan because such films affect everyone's mind." [4] Rahul Desai of Film Companion gave the film a negative review and stated, "If only films like Shaadisthan stopped preaching altogether, perhaps we all wouldn’t feel like a bunch of unruly kids trapped in a confession booth." [5]

Soundtrack

Shaadisthan
Soundtrack album by
Nakul Sharma, Sahil Bhatia, Swaroop Khan and Ajay Jayanthi
Released16 June 2021 [6]
Recorded2020
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length21:31
LanguageHindi
Label Zee Music Company
Official audio
Shaadisthan – Full Album on YouTube

The film's soundtrack is composed by Nakul Sharma, Sahil Bhatia, Swaroop Khan and Ajay Jayanthi whereas lyrics being written by Sahil Bhatia, Nakul Sharma, Apurv Dogra, Ajay Jayanthi, Kunal Singh Chauhan, Swaroop Khan, Surbhi Dashputra and Amir Khusrau.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Yeh Sach"Sahil Bhatia, Nakul Sharma, Apurv DograNakul Sharma, Sahil BhatiaMansheel Gujral, Ajay Jayanthi, Apurv Dogra4:27
2."Leheriyera"Nakul Sharma, Sahil Bhatia, Ajay Jayanthi, Kunal Singh ChauhanNakul Sharma, Sahil BhatiaIsheeta Chakrvarty, Swaroop Khan, Ajay Jayanthi, Apurv Dogra3:57
3."Hichki"Swaroop Khan, Surbhi DashputraNakul Sharma, Sahil BhatiaIsheeta Chakrvarty, Swaroop Khan5:07
4."Kirpa Karo"Amir KhusrauNakul Sharma, Sahil Bhatia, Swaroop Khan Swaroop Khan 4:01
5."Secret Annexe"-Ajay Jayanthi Instrumental 4:11
6."The Pushkar Song"-Ajay JayanthiInstrumental1:49
Total length:23:31

Related Research Articles

<i>Bollywood/Hollywood</i> 2002 Canadian film

Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy drama film directed by Deepa Mehta and starring Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray.

<i>Life in a... Metro</i> 2007 Indian film

Life in a... Metro is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language drama film co-produced, co-written and directed by Anurag Basu. Partly inspired from Billy Wilder's romantic comedy film The Apartment (1960), it features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Nafisa Ali, Shilpa Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Shiney Ahuja, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kangana Ranaut and Sharman Joshi in lead roles. The music is composed by Pritam with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri. It narrates the lives of nine people living in Mumbai and deals with topics such as extramarital affairs, sanctity of marriage, commitment phobia and love.

<i>Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye</i> 2000 film

Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film starring Salman Khan, Jackie Shroff, Mohnish Bahl, Rani Mukerji, Raveena Tandon, Pooja Batra and Kashmira Shah and directed by K. Murali Mohana Rao. It is an Indian adaptation of the American film The Wedding Singer starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

<i>Bulandi</i> (2000 film) 2000 Indian film

Bulandi is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language drama film. It is a remake of the Tamil movie Nattamai. It stars Anil Kapoor in a dual role alongside Rajinikanth, Rekha and Raveena Tandon in the lead roles. This is the last Hindi film appearance of Rajinikanth, who continued acting in only Tamil films.

<i>Malabar Wedding</i> 2008 Indian film

Malabar Wedding is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film directed by the Rajesh-Faisal duo and written by Ramesh Madhavan. It has Indrajith Sukumaran and Gopika in the lead roles. The story is based on a custom called Sorakalyanam which is prevalent in some parts of Malabar in Kerala. In this custom, before the marriage, friends have fun with the bride and groom, by making false stories and playing practical jokes upon them. Rahul Raj scored the music for this film.

<i>Hum Ho Gaye Aapke</i> 2001 film by Agathiyan

Hum Ho Gaye Aapke is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film, directed by Agathiyan, that stars Fardeen Khan and Reema Sen in her Bollywood debut. It is a remake of Agathiyan's Tamil blockbuster film Gokulathil Seethai (1996). The film was released on 3 August 2001.

<i>Pani Jaisa Piyar</i> Pakistani TV series

Pani Jaisa Pyar is a Pakistani drama serial which aired on Hum TV. It was written by popular script writer Moomal Shunaid, and directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat. Paani Jaisa Piyar has received mostly positive reviews.

<i>100% Love</i> (2012 film) Bengali film by Rabi Kinagi (2012)

100% Love is a 2012 Indian Bengali-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Rabi Kinagi, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is a remake of the 2007 Telugu film Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule and starred Jeet and Koel Mallick in the lead roles. 100% Love released on 20 January 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirti Kulhari</span> Indian actress

Kirti Kulhari is an Indian actress who works in Hindi-language films and series. She made her acting debut with the film Khichdi: The Movie in 2010 and then starred in Shaitan in 2011. She then appeared in the films Jal (2013), Pink (2016), Indu Sarkar (2017), Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), and Mission Mangal (2019). Kulhari has starred in several web series, which includes Four More Shots Please! (2019–present), Criminal Justice (2020) and Human (2022).

<i>Astram</i> (film) 2006 Indian film

Astram (transl. Weapon) is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language action crime film, directed by Suresh Krishna. The film stars Vishnu Manchu, Anushka Shetty, Jackie Shroff and Rahul Dev. It is a remake of the Hindi film Sarfarosh. The film was dubbed into Hindi as Astra - The Weapon.

<i>Natsamrat</i> 2016 Indian film

Natasamrat is a 2016 Indian Marathi-language drama film starring Nana Patekar in the leading role. Based on a play of the same name written by playwright Kusumagraj, the film depicts the tragic family life of a stage actor who has retired from acting but is unable to forget his fond memories of theatre and the stage.

<i>Veere Di Wedding</i> 2018 Indian film

Veere Di 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. Loosely based on the 2015 film The Wedding Ringer, 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.

<i>Kkusum</i> Indian drama television series

Kkusum is an Indian television series produced by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms which aired on Sony Entertainment Television from 14 May 2001 to 30 November 2005. It was directed by Jasbir Bhati. The show follows the journey of a young, hardworking and middle class girl, Kkusum and later, after a 20 year leap on her daughter Kkumud.

Janani is a 2006 Indian Hindi language film starring Bhagyashree and Ayesha Jhulka.

<i>Badhaai Ho</i> 2018 film directed by Amit Dhir

Badhaai Ho is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma and produced by Sharma, Aleya Sen and Hemant Bhandari under Chrome Pictures and Vineet Jain under Junglee Pictures. It stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Neena Gupta with Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri, Shardul Rana and Sanya Malhotra in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a middle-aged couple who get pregnant, much to the disappointment of their sons. Based on a script written by Shantanu Srivastava and Akshat Ghildial and a story conceived by Jyoti Kapoor.

<i>Blackmail</i> (2018 film) 2018 Indian film

Blackmail is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film co-produced and directed by Abhinay Deo. The film stars Irrfan Khan, Kirti Kulhari, Arunoday Singh and Divya Dutta in lead roles and is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Apurba Sengupta and Rohit KaduDeshmukh under the banner of T-Series Films and RDP Motion Pictures. Blackmail depicts the life of a married-man in his late 30s stuck in a full day-time job and unexciting life but things turn after he finds that his wife is having an extramarital affair. The film had its theatrical release in India on 6 April 2018 and turned out to be a Sleeper Hit at the box office.

<i>The Girl on the Train</i> (2021 film) 2021 film by Ribhu Dasgupta

The Girl on the Train is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Reliance Entertainment, based on British author Paula Hawkins's 2015 debut novel of the same name. The film stars Parineeti Chopra, Avinash Tiwary, Aditi Rao Hydari and Kirti Kulhari and was released worldwide on 26 February 2021 on Netflix. The film revolves around Mira Kapoor, an alcoholic and troubled divorcee who gets embroiled in a big murder investigation.

<i>Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan</i> 2020 Indian romantic comedy film directed by Hitesh Kewalya

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is a 2020 Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Hitesh Kewalya. It is a spiritual successor to Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017). The film stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar, with Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta, Pankhuri Awasthy, Maanvi Gagroo and Manu Rishi in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a gay man and his partner, who have trouble convincing the former's parents of their relationship.

<i>Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors</i> Indian web series

Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors is an Indian Hindi-language legal drama web series for Hotstar Specials written by Apurva Asrani and directed by Rohan Sippy and Arjun Mukerjee. The series stars Pankaj Tripathi, Kirti Kulhari, Jisshu Sengupta and Khushboo Atre, and was released through Disney+ Hotstar on 24 December 2020.

<i>Woh Toh Hai Albelaa</i> Indian television series

Woh To Hai Albelaa was an Indian Hindi-language television drama series that aired from 14 March 2022 to 14 June 2023 on Star Bharat and is digitally available on Disney+ Hotstar. Produced by Rajan Shahi under Director Kut's Productions, it starred Shaheer Sheikh and Hiba Nawab in the lead roles, with Anuj Sachdeva playing a major cameo role. It is an official adaptation of Star Vijay's Tamil series Eeramana Rojave.

References

  1. "Shaadisthan review: Kirti Kulhari film turns into a condescending sermon". The Indian Express. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. "Shaadisthan Review: Woke but weak", The Times of India, retrieved 29 July 2021
  3. IANS (12 June 2021). "'Shaadisthan' Review: Kriti Kulhari's Film Struggles To Hold One's Interest". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. "Shaadistan Review: बिना फिल्टर का सच, बोले तो 'एकदम कड़क' | Bollywood Life हिंदी". Bollywood Life (in Hindi). 14 June 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  5. Desai, Rahul (12 June 2021). "Shaadisthan, On DisneyPlus Hotstar, Is A Sterile Classroom Camouflaged As A Film". Film Companion. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. "Shaadisthan – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jio Saavn. 16 June 2021.