The buzz around Veere Di Wedding has existed for over a year now. Whether it was because the film released a new poster, the fact that it is Kareena Kapoor's comeback vehicle or even just shooting commencing, anticipation has been steadily increasingly. Finally, the movie trailer released a day ago and along with a stylish sighting of the four female leads, it let us in on the most we know about the film yet. Familial relationships, marriage, sex and friendship are the themes of Veere Di Wedding against the backdrop of a garishly large-scale Indian wedding. But dig a little deeper and like us, you might find yourself with a feeling of déja vu of the late 90s hit Sex And The City. Here's the trailer to refresh your memory.
Although it claims it isn't a chick flick, the fact of the matter is Veere Di Wedding is about four women who are navigating the tricky world of adulthood and we wouldn't know what else to call it other than that. Sure, there are plenty of movies and shows with four female leads in a similar setting (does Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants, Girls, Bridesmaids or even Aisha ring a bell?) but none of them broach the subject of being unprepared for marriage, candid discussions about sex, finding one's footing in life and female bonding as adults like Sex And The City, the six season long TV series and two movies; which makes Veere Di Wedding and Sex And The City fall somewhere in the same space.
Another similarity that's easy to miss from Veere Di Wedding's trailer is the fashion. Carrie Bradshaw was a fashion writer and like the rest of her high-flying friends, was styled impressively in voluminous tulle skirts, oversized flowers and pair after pair of designer shoes. In VDW, fashion seems to be integral to the characters; which can be seen from Kareena's flashy princess wedding dress, Swara Bhasker's massive yellow shoulder ruffle and boots, Sonam's glittering wedding garb and Shikha Talsania's red swimsuit.
While Carrie and her longtime love, Mr. Big have an on-off relationship riddled with commitment phobia on his part, the same seems to be the case with Kareena and Sumeet Vyas' characters. Kareena seems hesitant to take the plunge but gives in to the pressure of the big Indian wedding and appears to have called it off later. In SATC, Mr. Big got cold feet on the day of his much-hyped wedding and they separated, to later reunite for a subdued court wedding.
Then there's Sonam Kapoor's character Avni. Much like Charlotte York, Avni seems to be meticulously styled in neatly parted hair, shiny pearls and preppy blazers to nail the clean-cut, Ms. Goody-two-shoes look and marriage seems to be the key to truly complete her. Besides her image, there's another angle to explore where she yells, "Mother lover!" to her possible Mama's boy of a partner. It may help to note that Charlotte's first husband in SATC, Trey and her squabbled constantly about his mother's overwhelming influence in their marriage, which eventually led to their divorce.
Not much is seen of Shikha Talsania's character Meera in the almost 3-minute long trailer but with her spouting dialogues about how she hasn't had sex in a year, the cringeworthy Hindi translation of orgasm or her quip about Sonam's Avni needing a degree to get down and dirty; her frank realism about sex and relationships might make her the Samantha of the group.
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So that begs the question - is Veere Di Wedding India's answer to Sex And The City? Only time will tell. The moments of déja vu from the trailer alone are strikingly similar but we'll just have to wait for the movie to release on June 1st, 2018.
