Movie reviews: Hollywood and Indie, specializing in independent comedies, dramas, thrillers and romance.
Thursday, August 4, 2022
Wedding Season: Movie Review
A sweet, funny and charming rom-com.
Wedding Season is a surprising delight. With a tired fake dating premise, it becomes a genuinely funny and very charming romantic comedy. Asha (Pallavi Sharda) and Ravi (Suraj Sharma) are two well-written characters, both rebelling against their parents and their cultural upbringing, but doing so with empathy and humour and warmth. And that’s exactly what shines through in the movie.
2022
Directed by: Tom Dey
Screenplay by: Shiwani Srivastava
Starring: Pallavi Sharva, Suraj Sharma
Asha is one of the best written rom-com heroines of our time. First, she has a real job (not some vague marketing job which dominates this genre) and she’s smart; she’s an economist who works for a finance company securing investing for women-led small-businesses in Asia. She’s a realistically smart character and she’s written that way, which is so refreshing. Second, she has no interest in finding husband. She’s truly independent and enjoys her life. She’s also funny when she has to explain all of that to her traditional Indian parents.
When Asha’s mother posts her profile on an online dating website, Asha tells her to take it down since she has no interest in finding a husband and may never get married. Her mother breaks down in hysterics and reads Ravi’s profile to her. It’s a perfectly funny opening since Ravi’s post was obviously written by his mother. Asha agrees to meet him if it will shut her mother up.
It’s a season of weddings, which fits the Indian culture very well. Asha and Ravi go from fake dating to real love because of course it’s that predictable. But the strength of the movie is that it doesn’t focus on the plot, it focuses on the characters, and these are very well-crafted people whose primary virtues are empathy and caring about others. Mixing that with humour is what allows the movie to revel in all of its romantic-comedy-ness.
It comes out on Netflix only one week after Purple Hearts another fake romance film. The difference here (other than romantic comedy vs romantic drama) is the genuineness of the characters. It also shares an almost identical plot to Netflix’s Holidate, but again this is superior because it’s more grounded and more mature. The characters are treated with respect rather than just vehicles for jokes.
Pallavi Sharda shines as Asha. A very nice performance that captures Asha’s intelligence and independence and turns her sarcasm into charm and humour. Suraj Sharma (famous for Life of Pi) is an adorable companion to Asha and is a great example of nice guys who don’t finish last.
Wedding Season definitely slows down after the premise has been established since we all know where it’s headed. It also ends a few beats too early – Asha is such a well-written character that she deserves a more encompassing ending, not just a fairy tale one. It’s a simple movie, but one that highlights diversity (all of the weddings are interracial ones) and the charm in genuine and compassionate people. It’s funny and sweet and should be at the top of most rom-com choices.
