Aaha Kalyanam

Yash Raj Films make their first stride into the south, with Aaha Kalyanam which is the official remake of the Hindi hit Band Baaja Baaraat. Starring Nani and Vaani Kapoor in the lead, the movie is directed by newcomer Gokul Krishna with music by Dharan.

Aaha Kalyanam is the fun filled episode of how Shakti and Shruti meet, greet, fight and unite with a wedding planning business as their motive.

Sticking to the script of the original, the director has played it safe by carving out a replica of the Hindi version. However, he has ensured that the movie is bright and colorful to provide a glitzy treat to the eyes. Most of the movie is concentrated on the lead pair, who share a surprisingly good chemistry between them. The feel good factor is maintained till the very end without spoiling the essence of the movie.

Aaha Kalyanam's biggest strength is the male lead Nani, who comes out with a bubbly performance. His Telugu-ish Tamil diction brings out instant chuckles at times, both intentionally and otherwise. Vaani Kapoor is beau, and is compelling enough for the role. The rest of the cast fit the bill, notably Badawa Gopi as the flower vendor.

Technically, the movie is in the swim with hunky-dory camera and passable editing. Nevertheless, the movie does boast of some good production values and great wardrobes. Dharan's music is another plus, even though there are an overdose of songs in the first half. The Punch Song gets lucky with glittery picturisation.

On the downside, Aaha Kalyanam pays heed to a few dull moments in the second half and a slightly alien feeling overall due to the esoteric casting. Yet, it does leave you with a smile at the end and for sure is a remake which stays faithful to the original.

Siddarth Srinivas, Cinemalead.

It is just a 'wishing-and-praying-to-be-better' remake of Band Baaja Baaraat. Unfortunately, they spent -or waste- their efforts, time and money, just to make it worse, not even the same. The actors merely tried to duplicate those of Band Baaja Baaraat. They should have performed on their own style.

Aaha Kalyanam was a decent watch. Too much of Bollywood essence though in a Tamil movie. (Not a big fan of the same).This is probably what happens when a Hindi Production banner tries to make a remake. More research could have gone in to suit the movie according to Tamil culture. If you are making a movie about marriages, detail to small things are very important which this movie failed to give miserably. Why are we made to watch a Tamil movie with so much of Hindi culture reference? Too many songs and how much longer are movies going to explore the same egoistic nature between a man and woman? Give it a break. Climax made up for the overall mediocrity of the movie. Go for it, if you have not seen the original Hindi version.

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I never thought I'd end up reviewing an overtly commercial film like this but being Yash Raj Films' debut South venture and having surprisingly enjoyed the film, I'm compelled to do just that. Although positioned as a Tamil release, this film definitely feels more Bollywood than it should. Every shot, colour and sound is perfectly staged- almost too perfectly for a Kollywood production. Having not seen "Band Baaja Baaraat" probably helped as I've been able to skip the inevitable comparisons and, as a result, haven't found much to fault in the film. A couple of the scenes in the second half are long-winded and could have done with an edit. The real success of the release is of course its lead actor, Telugu star Nani. I can't think of one film starring Nani where he didn't totally own the scenes he was in. This is his 2nd Tamil film (after 2011's "Veppam") and a much higher profile vehicle for him as an actor. Vaani Kapoor does a decent job but was a strange choice for a South launch film; either way their on-screen chemistry is believable (most of the time) and their rapport seems to work. A decent effort.