Daadi Ki Shaadi review: Neetu Kapoor shines in a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be 

A film called Daadi Ki Shaadi should ideally come with a certain kind of madness. It’s a family entertainer; loud, full of ‘emotional blackmail’, wedding chaos, awkward relatives, confusion amongst multiple generations, and the type of humour you get in Indian homes. For a brief moment while you are watching it, you feel that it is actually accomplishing that. It has warmth in the setup, a good central premise, and an entire ensemble of actors who are all known and good enough to keep you watching. 

But from the wedding drama, emotion-filled speeches, confused comedy, and numerous detours from the storyline, Daadi Ki Shaadi completely loses control of its own story. 

The most significant problem with the film is that it has no idea what it wants to be. One minute, it’s a quirky family comedy, and then it is immediately followed by emotional drama, and finally rounds out with slapstick humour. There’s a significant lack of tonal consistency in each of the scenes; some start abruptly, and others end abruptly. 

The screenplay continually deviates from telling a cohesive story by including numerous unneeded side stories that only confuse things even further. The viewer is never allowed to get settled into a pattern throughout its run time as it seems to constantly be switching directions. This becomes tiring, rather than entertaining, after getting through the second half of the movie. 

The heart of this storyline had so much potential. An old woman chooses to marry while her younger family becomes distraught, would have made for a great, emotionally powerful, modern-day family comedy? drama. There are traces of a much better film hidden underneath all the noise. Unfortunately, the writers never trusted those quieter, more real moments enough for them to come through in the final product. 

Despite Director Ashish R. Mohan’s attempts to keep the energy up, the chaotic atmosphere of the film eventually begins to work against it instead of for it. The filmmakers use loudness as a means of providing humor to the audience too often, resulting in the emotional moments being stretched to the degree where they no longer have any real effect on the viewer. The pacing quickly becomes an issue as well. At 2.5 hours in length, it seems like an unnecessary length for a film when the story could have been told far more tightly and effectively. 

On the performance side of things, the cast does whatever they can to make the most of the uneven material they are working with. Neetu Kapoor has the strongest presentation of all the cast members. She brings an authentic sense of charm and ease to her character, which helps make the weaker scenes of the film watchable. She helps to establish an emotional connection to the film when it starts to stray from that emotional connection. But even she cannot fully rescue a screenplay this scattered. 

Despite being stuck between television-style comedy and stage performances, Kapil Sharma shows promise as an actor. His comic timing is evident in bits and pieces at times, especially within lighter family situations. His comedic persona is relied upon heavily throughout the course of the film, leading to an underdeveloped character for him to portray. Instead of evolving emotionally, his role mostly reacts to situations happening around him. You often want to see him underplay some scenes rather than being forced into exaggerated humour around every turn. 

The acting debut of Riddhima Kapoor Sahni brings a lot of attention. She certainly has a presence; however, her performance has a degree of hesitation associated with it. While she shows a level of sincerity, it also shows a degree of stiffness in certain emotional scenes. Her character feels underdeveloped, but she still shows potential in quieter moments where she isn’t trying too hard. 

Sadia Khateeb once again proves why she deserves better-written roles. She provides a sense of genuineness and tranquility in her portrayal that desperately needs it. The supporting cast, which included Sarathkumar, Yograj Singh, etc., were adequately present, but a lot of the characters feel more like exaggerated personalities than real people. 

The humour is another area that is somewhat hit and miss; some jokes land due to the conviction behind their delivery, but most of the humour seems too repetitive and too stretched out. Also, the emotional scenes seem to be accompanied by background music that is so dramatic that it almost begs the audience to feel something, rather than allowing that to happen organically. 

Overall, I think Daadi Ki Shaadi has too many ideas, too many tones, and not enough storytelling discipline to hold everything together. The film attempts to be emotionally feel-good, funny, chaotic, has heart, and has social relevance all at the same time, but ends up becoming an exhausting mix of unfinished thoughts. 

Rating: 1.5/5