Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Ila Arun, Rati Agnihotri

Director: Saket Chaudhary

Rating: ***

Well before going ahead with the dissection of recently released Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan starrer 'Shaadi Ke Side Effect' I would like to eulogize movie director Saket Chaudhary, for showing the courage of unscrambling the mysteries and intricacies of complicated phenomenon called "Shaadi". And complicated because even after the passing away of numerous eons ever since the evolution even the apex most literati have failed in unsnarling the convolutions of this "societal tradition" despite its being a necessary evil (obviously for men).

Anyhow, after making his mark with the prequel puckish rom com "Pyaar Ke Side Effect" where he redefined love with altogether diverse shades of life, this Saket took the status of relationship a level higher and focused on the institution of marriage. And in his this attempt Saket has thoroughly relied up on the cut and thrusts of real life matrimony.

As the Shaadi Ke Side Effects marks its onset it begins with a direct pick taken from Four Christmases, but as the narration flows ahead viewers get to know about the association of Sid (Farhan Akhtar) who is still a struggling musician, and Trisha (Vidya Balan) who are now married. For this happy go lucky couple everything remains fine till the time they a new member in their family. Post which Trisha turns into a full time home maker where as Sid is still trying his level best to slip into the boots of an ideal father, where his sole intention to establish an equilibrium between his role of an ideal father, his marital bonding with his wife besides his professional life. After failing in all his attempts of succeeding in coping with all this mess Sid turns towards Trisha's brother-in-law Ranvir (Ram Kapoor), who is considered as a perfect husband and father by Trisha's mom (Rati Agnihotri), to seek the magic mantra of being a perfect family man. So, does Sid succeeds in quest or ends up being a marionette of circumstances? To know watch this Farhan and Vidya starrer marital rom-com "Shaadi Ke Side Effect".


There is no denying the fact that Saket's previous cine outing i.e. "Pyaar Ke Side Effect" had an out of the box concept beneath it, but this doesn't hold true for "Shaadi Ke Side Effect" entirely. Although Saket has tried do deployed a huge amount of "Hatke Factor" in the script and have even banked upon the real life reference points to make "Shaadi Ke Side Effect" identifiable cine delight, but in spite of that the plot of the movie fails in inducing any never seen before kind of feel. Humour or rather hilarity pertaining to marital life certainly keeps your jaws on job for entire first half, but soon after the advent of second half even that USP of movie parts from the premise making it run of a mill sort of over stretched cine cantata.

Despite Shaadi Ke Side Effects' being an average cine tale it's the scripting part which does wonders for the movie and keeps viewer's attention uni-directed towards the big screen. In fact it won't be wrong to say that it's the scripting only which compels the viewers to connect with the onscreen proceedings. Be it the droll dialogues with tons of hilarity in them or the smartly crafted confabs of husband and wife, everything elevates the relatability coefficient of the movie.


As far as the screenplay is concerned then it remains dauntless in the first half and takes off with grandeur. But as soon as the second half arrives after a mild twist the pace of narration starts losing its pace and diminishes the overall appeal of a magnificently flowing cine narration and becomes a bit melodramatic.

In the music department with peppy numbers like "Atyaachaari" and a few soul full aural delights Pritam has done a decent job. Finally coming to the performances, well with the presence of some of the doughty performers of Bollywood like Farhan And Vidya it is obvious for the fans to have some beyond reality kind of expectations. And believe me keeping in view the expectations of fans both Vidya and Farhan have splendidly succeeded in astonishing the fans with their respective performances. After delivering some of the unforgettable performances in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara this time while playing the role of a confused husband "stuck in the quagmire of role conflict", Farhan has once again returned as one of the supreme performers of Bollywood.

Whereas on the other hand after being part of BO dud, Ghanchakkar, this time Vidya has finally succeeded in making her mark while being in a rom-com genre and besides it's that over protective mother avatar of Vidya which somewhere down the line makes you feel convinced by the acting prowess of this otherwise sinewy actress.


After proving his mettle on the small screen, and movies like Mere Dad Ki Maruti and Student of the Year Ram Kapoor once again seems to be at his performing best lives a pleasing impact. Besides, supporting cast comprising of Rati Agnihotri, Ila Arun, and Purab Kohli too succeeds in registering their presence with their short yet important appearances.

Well as far as earning potential of Shaadi Ke Side Effects is concerned then it entirely depends on the legacy of Farhan and Vidya and besides how the word of mouth publicity turns out for the movie. And if everything falls on place for it then it is expected to emerge as one of the decent grosser of the years.

To sum up, despite not being something out of the box, "Shaadi Ke Side Effects" is a well crafted take on marital camaraderie, which besides entertaining the viewers also compels them to identify it. And as far as rating is concerned then on the basis of freshness of content and entertainment in the offering I would have opted to go for 2.5 stars, but because of the marvellous performances of Farhan and Vidya I am going ahead with 3 stars.