FILM REVIEW: GHUDCHADI

There is drama. Breakups with hearts occur. But the lovers end up getting back together. This is the classic blueprint for a love tale, repeatedly repackaged and released as "new" wine. However, what occurs if the "new" wine is flavorless and has nothing special to offer? Ghudchadi is the solution. The film's theme—children of ex-lovers who are getting married falling in love themselves—may be intriguing, but the plot eventually falls flat. The central theme of the movie is incest, a taboo subject that is rarely discussed in mainstream Bollywood.

Nevertheless, a one-hour, 59-minute movie cannot be supported by a one-liner plot. To say it's unimpressive would be an understatement. Some movies are so awfully good. Ghudchadi is not included in that group. It's not even the sort of pleasurable vice you might get into after a few drinks. It centers on the lives of Devika and Chirag and is set in Delhi. Chirag resides with his grandmother Kalyani Devi and his father, retired army officer Colonel Veer.

He wants to support his start-up, which makes comfy, odorless men's underwear, and grow it into a successful company. Chirag meets Devika, who is fixated on the "shaadi tax," at his best friend's wedding. Devika gives out a list of conditions that her friend, the bride, expects her future husband to follow. Chirag is drawn to Devika because of her beauty, intelligence, wit, and spunk. And by pure coincidence, he runs into her again when he goes to a swanky office to present his start-up idea.

Devika, a marketing expert, chooses to support his proposal because she finds it appealing. Their commercial transaction quickly gives way to a developing romantic relationship.

However, there are two things standing in the way of their "happily ever after." Devika hails from Punjab, Chirag is a Brahmin, and Kalyani Devi is adamantly opposed to marriages between different castes.

Meanwhile, old flames rekindle as Devika's single mother Menka and Chirag's widower father Veer cross paths again after a long absence. Veer and Menka had been dating for years when Kalyani Devi's casteist views caused them to break up. They now resolve to battle for their love. Ghudchadi is all about the chaos that results.

Honestly, Ghudchadi has nothing to be proud of. The screenplay is uninspired, with unfunny dialogue and one-liners that never quite work, and the scripting is sloppy. Even at one hour and fifty-nine minutes, the movie seems incredibly long.

Especially the first half is so wildly disorganized that you begin to wonder what the creators intended. Additionally, it has a ton of unmemorable songs that don't advance the plot. Although song and dance scenes give a movie about a wedding (or two weddings) much-needed richness and color, Ghudchadi's musical elements are by no means its strongest point.

What then is its standout feature? Not the dramatic sequences, for sure. Whether this is deliberate or not is up for debate, but the filmmakers appear to be paying homage to 1980s Bollywood movies in which evil families kept lovers apart. But histrionics and theatrics overshadow the drama, leaving you frustrated and irritated instead.