Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana (transl. Do attend the wedding) is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language romance-drama comedy film directed by Ratnaa Sinha and written by Kamal Pandey. Produced by Vinod and Manju Bachchan, the film features Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Kharbanda alongside K. K. Raina, Alka Amin, Vipin Sharma, Govind Namdev, Navni Parihar, Nayani Dixit and Manoj Pahwa.

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana revolves around two individuals, Satyendra and Aarti, their journey from being together through a marriage proposal and falling in love. But their individual decisions and destiny takes them in two different directions. The music was composed by Anand Raj Anand, JAM8, and Arko, while all the lyrics were written by Kumaar.

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana had a worldwide release on 10 November 2017, and received mixed to positive reviews from the critics. The film earned ₹87 million (US$1.0 million) in its first week eventually collecting a lifetime worldwide gross of ₹194 million (US$2.3 million). It was termed an "above average" venture at the box office.

At the Stardust Awards, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana received the Best Film nomination. At the Zee Cine Awards, Jyotica Tangri won Best Female Playback Singer (for "Pallo Latke").

Plot

Aarti Shukla (Kriti Kharbanda) a PCS aspirant meets Satyendra "Sattu" Mishra (Rajkummar Rao) a clerk in the Excise Department, on her parents' persistence who are trying to fix her in an arranged marriage. Aarti finds Sattu's off-traditional views convenient, while Sattu is mesmerized by Aarti's beauty and intelligence. They fall in love and agree to marry. Satyendra and Aarti meet during their courtship days he contributes to the dowry and hand over 10lakhs to Arti and become extremely fond of each other. On the night of marriage, Aarti learns that she has cleared the PCS Exam from her sister, Abha, who also informs her that her in-laws will not let her pursue her career. On her Abha's and her maternal uncle's advice Aarti flees from her house without informing Sattu, who is left heartbroken. Due to this incident, both Sattu as well as his family are disgraced by the society since the people assume there must be something wrong with him because of which the girl ran away on the night of the wedding.

After 5 years, Aarti is now a PCS Officer in Lucknow and is accused of taking a bribe. Her investigation case is handled by the local district magistrate, who is revealed to be Sattu, now an influential IAS Officer. Unable to forget his heartbreak as well as his family's disgrace due to Aarti, Sattu uses his power to torment her and outright tells her that he loathes her. Unable to endure Sattu's emotional torment, Aarti confronts him and informs him that she left the marriage for her PCS training; but Satyendra retorts that she should have at least confided in him beforehand as he loved her so much. Later, Aarti meets Mr. Kukreja, who accuses her of taking the bribe. When Sattu learns about the meeting, he immediately orders for Aarti to be arrested. During the final hearing, it is revealed that Aarti's friend Neelam was the one who took the bribe and Sattu had Aarti sent to the prison to protect her from an assassination attempt planned by Neelam and Mr. Kukreja. Aarti is found not guilty, and Sattu permits her to resume her work.

Realising that Sattu's hatred towards her stems from his heartbreak, Aarti spends the next few days attempting to win back Sattu's love. However when Sattu spurns her and tells her he has suffered a lot due to her, Aarti decides to move on and marry Sharad. Sattu becomes increasingly conflicted upon hearing this news and reluctantly attends Aarti's wedding along with his family, but becomes distressed after witnessing her in her bridal dress. Sattu realises his mistake in rejecting Aarti and pleads with her to marry him instead. However, Aarti declines Sattu's proposal and leaves. Later, Aarti's brother reveals that the wedding is a ploy arranged by the Mishra and Shukla families to lure Sattu into marrying Aarti. Sharad is revealed to be Abha's husband and Aarti's brother-in-law. The film ends with Sattu laughing along with the families and marrying Aarti.

Cast

Production

Development

In February 2017, producer Vinod Bachchan made the official announcement about his film Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana with Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Kharbanda in lead roles. Filmmaker Ratnaa Sinha, wife of Anubhav Sinha marked her directorial debut with the film.

Casting

Rajkummar Rao was cast to play the lead, Satyendra Mishra, and was director Sinha's first choice. Rao added, "My character has a journey that travels the phase from a small town guy falling in love with a girl to becoming a successful, rich guy. It is a revenge story and how love makes you do things that you cannot do otherwise."

Kriti Kharbanda was cast to play Aarti Shukla, the other lead. Kharbanda stated "script" as the reason behind choosing the film and added, "Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana is my most passionate project till date. I feel nothing but love for the characters of this film altogether." For the role of Aarti, the first choice of Sinha was Taapsee Pannu, who had reportedly came on board to do the film but later on decided against doing so citing lack of dates.

K. K. Raina and Alka Amin were cast to play Satyendra's parents. Govind Namdev and Navni Parihar were cast to play Aarti's parents. Nayani Dixit played Aarti's sister, Vipin Sharma and Manoj Pahwa were cast as Satyendra and Aarti's uncle respectively.

Filming

The principal photography of Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana began in March 2017 in Allahabad. A major portion of the film was shot at Hanuman Mandir, Civil Lines, Lord Curzon Bridge and the Triveni Sangam. Following this, there was a 30-day schedule in Lucknow, including at Ambedkar Memorial Park. The final schedule of the film took place in Kanpur. A set worth ₹20 million was created in Lucknow by art director Arup Adhikari, set designer Shabiul Haasan and their team to film the wedding sequence that formed the climax.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album of Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana comprises eleven songs composed by Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Kaushik-Akash-Guddu (KAG) For JAM8, Zain-Sam-Raees, Anand Raaj Anand and Rashid Khan while the lyrics were written by Kumaar, Shakeel Azmi, Gaurav Krishna Bansal, Arko and Kunal Verma.

Vocals on the album's eight tracks were performed by several singers mainly Yasser Desai, Arijit Singh, and Shafqat Amanat Ali. It was produced under the Zee Music label. The song "Pallo Latke" is a remake of a popular Rajasthani folk song. Lyrics of the song "Mera Intkam Dekheg" was written by IRTS officer Gaurav Krishna Bansal.

Critical reception

Bollywood Hungama gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and noted in its music review that, "What works for the music of Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana is the fact that there is a constant 'sur' right through its playing time which doesn't cause a distraction. The sound is uniform and helps the album to play on well through its duration." Vipin Nair of The Hindu in his review said that the soundtrack is "entirely missable" and gave it a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Release

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana's first poster was released on 10 October 2017. The film's trailer was released in the same month. Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana was theatrically released on 10 November 2017. In December 2017, the film was also screened at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Post its release, the film was made available on Zee5.

Reception

Critical response

Namrata Joshi of The Hindu was impressed with the acting performances of all actors but criticized the implausible revenge story that the film becomes in its second half. Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and noted, "Rajkummar’s transformation is impressive and Kriti effortlessly essays her role. All other character actors are a treat to watch. The film, however, leans too much on clichés. Songs are abrupt and obstruct the narrative. The filmmakers have also relied heavily on melodrama but despite these minor hiccups, this is an invitation you must not miss." Urvi Parikh of Rediff.com was critical of the weak storyline of the film and its slow pacing. The critic gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5.

Bollywood Hungama praised the concept of the film but criticized its uninspired execution and gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5. The website appreciated the acting performance of Rajkummar Rao but was critical of the writers for their confused presentation of his character. Kriti Tulsiani of News18 praised the acting performances of all actors but criticized the poorly written script which she felt was not just unreasonable but also out-dated, and gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5. Rachit Gupta of Filmfare applauded the makers for taking up issues that are very relevant to our society but was critical of the way they were handled. Rachit felt that the film suffers a lot from the usage of outdated [cliché]s and too much [melodrama] and gave it a rating of 2.5 out of 5. Meena Iyer of DNA India praised the acting performance of Rajkummar Rao but felt that the film lacked conviction and could not tap its entire potential. Meena gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5.

Box office

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana collected ₹50 lakhs on its first date. In its first week, it collected ₹6.35 crore. By the end of its theatrical run, the film collected approximately ₹19.4 crore and became an "average grosser" at the box office.

Accolades

Legacy

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana is regarded among the most popular films related to the Civil Services Examination. The film's song "Mera Intkam Dekhegi", became an anthem song for many aspirants preparing for UPSC and other competitive exams. The film brought recognition to Kriti Kharbanda and proved to be her breakthrough in Hindi films. She termed it the film that "changed her life". Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana is also noted for its fresh take on arrange marriage.

See also

• List of highest-grossing Bollywood films
• List of Hindi films of 2017

Notes

References

External links

• Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana at IMDb
• Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana at Bollywood Hungama
• Watch Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana on ZEE5