Movie: Aaha Kalyanam (Telugu)
Director: A. Gokul Krishna
Cast: Nani, Vaani Kapoor and Simran Bagga
Rating: ***
Given that it had placed its stakes to match the energy of a highly entertaining original like Band Baaja Baarat, YRF deserves a considerable pat with regard to Aaha Kalyanam which if spared for its shortcomings can certainly be labelled an honest effort to retain the soul of the former. Although a very loyal remake on an entirety, a capable lead pair in the form of Nani and Vani Kapoor helps its cause, primarily for the feel-good nature of the same. Marketed as a bilingual, it however doesn’t live up to the tag of being one, as the Tamilian flavor is very evident at places in spite of the universally appealing script.
Aaha Kalyanam follows a safely-proven pattern of attempting a remake, changing its nativities at the right situations and not making the characters, a mere bunch of caricatures. The refreshing appeal of this couple-bonding saga is significantly weaved because of the space given to both of its male and female counterparts to establish their identities through their friction, in-built comic sense and fragile personalities masked by hard-hearted exteriors. Egoism plays the spoilsport very often and their very desperation to not showcase their flaws out in the open ensures some intriguing on-screen sequences.
However, the problem with staying true to the Hindi version means that its follies follow suit here too. The second half ceases its easy flow and the realisation of the ‘heart-calling’ doesn’t hit hard as much as you expect. The break-up, the fumbles and the recovery act never really evoke surprises. The jarring aspects like those intermittently placed Marina beach backdrops and wrong references to wedding styles wear the watching experience too. The production values and visuals are as good as you expect out of a standardized filmmaking team with certain setups directly resembling the 2011 release although they don’t warrant much of a complaint.
Nani is his dependable self once again in this one after a forgettable outing like Paisa, enjoying himself in essaying a role that’s pitch-perfect to extract his strengths,importantly depicting his indomitable ease in terms of ensuring situational humor and portraying self-denial. Vani Kapoor, almost a miscast in terms of her appearance considering her looks, emotes well and exudes a ravishing confidence as a city-bred lass. Chinmayi’s dubbing to the former is a passe as her broken accent often downplays her voice. Simran’s appearance, on the other hand is too short to be labelled as a fitting comeback.
Habib Faisal (dialogue writer of the original)’s characters in Band Baaja Baarat were placed in Delhi and audiences bought the urbanity fondly for his true-to-life dialect. Sashank Vennelakanti unfortunately stays too happy in rewriting Tamil lines. Dharan Kumar’s compositions serve their limited purpose for recreating the festive air, probably not the ones we would cling on to later. Aaha Kalyanam is a warm offering but misses the madness and the originality that would have made it a crowd-puller.
Review by Srivathsan N, who had originally written it for Cinegoer.net
