"Aaha Kalyanam" is the second film of Nani to release in a fortnight. After the debacle of "Paisa", expectations were high for this film because it is coming from the second-most powerful production house in the country - Yash Raj Films - with interests in home videos, music, domestic and overseas distribution rights etc. Yash Raj Films has produced this film as a bilingual in Telugu and Tamil with the same starcast - Nani and Vani Kapoor playing the lead pair played in the original "Band Baaja Baaraat" by Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma. The original was a sensation that created stars out of both the Hindi actors. This film is Yash Raj Films' first foray into Telugu and Tamil.
Story
The story is replicated without a frame being altered: Shakti (Nani) bumps into Shruti Subramanyam (Vani Kapoor) at a wedding reception. Shruti is keen to learn the trade of wedding planner and in a tiff with market leader (Simran) starts her own firm focusing on wedding plans called "Gatti Melam". She admits Shakti as a partner on condition that they do not mix romance with finance. However, one fine night, in a frenzy of success celebrations, passions flare up with both as they end up cosying in bed. Their attitudes change afterwards and soon they split to start individual agencies. Business suffers as their complementary skill sets no longer support each other. In the grand finale, both of them team up again for a wedding on the insistence of a client who knows them since inception. They succeed in making the wedding a success and make a hard stop at expressing their love for each other. Happy ending for a couple who look good on screen - both Vani Kapoor and Nani.
Performances
Nani as the guy who runs through a roller-coaster of emotions delivers well with his effortless acting and high-variety voice modulation. As a former World Space radio jockey, he is one of the few actors who embellishes his characterisation with exceptional dubbing that gives depth to his voice. His performance in the climax scene is worth the wait as he mixes it up with emotions and jokes well.
Vani Kapoor is quite a glamorous find who is at ease in her role even if she lacks the vivacity of Anushka Sharma. She looks good in all the costumes but evidently has a typical North-Indian appeal. Her face resembles strikingly with Meenakshi Seshadri and Ankita in one face. At times, she dominates Nani which is a rare thing because Nani steals the show with heroines most. Simran as the industry leader makes a good comeback in a cameo. The rest of the starcast is nondescript and unknown - YRF has picked anonymous actors which might have made the film less dramatic.
How Good is the film?
"Aaha Kalyanam" despite a rich baggage, banner pedigree, tested story that aced up the box office in the original and a lead pair that sizzles is a big dud and having seen the original, the fault may lie entirely on the YRF banner besides the lack of chemistry between Nani and Vani Kapoor. Firstly, the original storyline had lot of sizzle in typical Punjabi language which got lost in translation by dialogue writer Sashank Vennelakanti. The dialogues are insipid, written with military precision not emotional value that appeals to masses. Often, the editing of the film is flaky and at crucial scenes like Simran provoking Nani and Vani or when they take up assignments or separate into different units, the narrative turns abrupt.
Two, entire sequences of the film have Tamil flavor rather than a Telugu touch. If this film is a remake of BBB, why couldn't YRF make a remake in Telugu instead of dubbing the film from Tamil? This is a big mistake because at several places, you don't get a feeling of involvement because everybody is a Tamil except the lead pair. There were four weddings or wedding receptions shown in the film and not one of them is a Telugu wedding. Infact, one gets a feeling there are two Tamil weddings, a muslim wedding (which was interesting and well-shot) and a Malayalam wedding but not a single Telugu attire is shown. At another place, where the families are visiting the wedding planner firm, there are four couples all of them wearing traditional Tamil or Kerala dress. With two assistant directors helping him, director A Gokul Krishna could have done better in adaptation. Simply changing the registration plates of vehicles plying on the scene is not enough dubbing, YRF should have take better care.
Three, YRF has been distributing Hindi films in AP as Vandana Films for the past 30 years. It would have understood the pulse of the local market better because in the past films like "Chandni" and "DDLJ" and "Dil to Pagal Hai" have been dubbed into Telugu with mixed success. Proper dubbing would have ensured the film registers well with the masses and the classes. Even the name of "Gatti Melam" appears as "Getti Melam" a couple of times.
Four, except for the climax song which mixes up the mannerisms and dialogues of three superstars - Mahesh Babu, Prabhas and Rajinikanth, the film moves with a routine straight-lift of the Hindi original giving sometimes predictability in the second half. Hindi sensibilities are quite different from those of Telugu and the production team should have reflected them.
Five, in 143 minutes, there is no comic relief as it is the story that sucks you in, no punchlines or typical adaptations that would have enhanced the cinematic experience for the mass Telugu viewer. It may be pertinent to note that an year back, Nandini Reddy made a film starring Siddharth and Samantha "Jabardast" which liberally borrowed the basic concept of BBB and made it into a loud entertaining film, which failed to click at the box office. This film by YRF, however, does justice to the basic plot but fails to hold the attention of the viewer with a non-native touch that is insensitive to the demands of two Telugu states who eat, drink and sleep entertaining movies.
Lastly, Nani is a talented actor who seem to have been stopped by the iron-clad rules of YRF when they make films. Because of the loyalty to the script and story by Maneesh Sharma, Nani was not given much leeway in improvising his performance to get a few good laughs. His potential got capped in this film which could undermine its reception at the BO.
What's good
Technically, the film has outstanding production values. Cinematography is brilliant and captures the mood of the weddings in colorful variety with minimal deviations - the camera is faithful to the narrative and characterisations of the principal characters in the film and delivers a visual feast. Music by Dharani Kumar is another high. While the original score of BBB was composed by Salim- Suleiman, Kumar composes a few hummable songs that stand out, especially "No one dancing here" which was also choreographed well by Brinda. BGM by Kumar also shows command over instrumentation and rhythm. Director A Gokul Krishna extracts decent output from all the sundry cast and presents a blockbuster story in its most faithful format, perhaps insisted by a production house which is testing waters in the South but some dilution in the plot to accomodate Telugu nativities would have worked wonders in this clean film which brings a breath of fresh air for its contemporary plot, decent fare, rich production values, family fare without an iota of lewdity, violence and intimacy (except in one crucial pre-interval scene of passion). There is no villain, no stunts, no item dance and no multiple-meaning dialogues. For the quality of the film and the message of being positive and being entrepreneurial, the film deserves atleast an average rating of 2.5 on 5. Because of the ineptness of adapting it locally to the vernacular sensibilities, the film fails to rise above that. If you have seen the original, you needn't miss this one. But for those who have not seen the original, you will be drawn to the film.
