Ghudchadi (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – A middle-class father-son duo from Delhi in which a son-loving father doesn’t want his son to get married with the love of his life and a father-loving son doesn’t want his 60-year-old father to get married.

My Take – At first glance, considering a cast that is led by the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon and Aruna Irani, you wouldn’t be in the wrong to mistake this latest Jio Cinema release to be a much delayed venture as it screamed to be the kind of delightful old-school love story cum family drama that faded away from screens about two decades ago.

But if only director Binnoy Gandhi had channeled a bit of nuance, the romantic comedy would have worked well as a middle-aged romance story instead of feeling like a daily soap from the 2000s.

While the film is themed around an interesting (arguably) subject of children of ex-lovers falling in love and planning to marry themselves, the outdated execution ultimately disappoints.

From the screenplay and characterization to the conflict and resolution, the narrative just remains thoroughly predictable without any hints of creativity or uniqueness. Despite running for just 119 minutes, the film feels excruciatingly long as it intertwines love stories and family dynamics in a romantic drama that charts a very familiar territory.

Set in Delhi, the story follows Chirag (Parth Samthaan), a young lad who lives happily with his widower father Colonel Veer Sharma (Sanjay Dutt) and grandmother Kalyani Devi (Aruna Irani) in a blessed home, despite losing his mother at a young age. Aiming high to turn his odorless and comfortable men’s underwear start-up line into a flourishing business, while his grandmother fusses over getting him married.

That is until, at his business partner and best friend’s wedding, Chirag encounters Devika (Khushalii Kumar) and is immediately infatuated by her beauty, brains, spunk, and sass. And as luck would have it, he serendipitously meets her again when he pitches his start-up expansion idea at her fancy office. The business deal soon giving way to a brewing romance between them. However, obstacles arrive in the way of their marriage plans.

The first being Kalyani Devi herself, who is staunchly against inter-caste marriages. The second being, Devika’s single mother, Menka (Raveena Tandon), who also happens to be Veer’s ex, and when the two meet again after many years, old sparks fly once more. And as the two parents decide to settle down together finally, chaos ensues.

And as the story progresses, these issues are addressed in the most clichéd and dramatic manner. Indeed, Gandhi shows promise as a first-time feature film director, as the movie moves at an even pace for the most part. However, his approach would have benefited from a more engaging story and a tighter, more nuanced script and screenplay.

To be honest, the film has little to boast about. The first half, in particular, is so randomly chaotic that you start questioning the writer Deepak Kapur Bhardwaj’ intentions. Even some of the characters like the old servant, sweet-toothed uncle and annoying aunt seem too caricaturist.

It’s also packed with a bunch of forgettable songs that add nothing to a plot that seems to be stuck in the 80s and 90s era, where lovers were kept apart by their villainous families. To make matters worse the film’s core conflicts, inter-community romance and unconventional family dynamics, are resolved through convenient plot twists that are too farfetched and predictable.

What the film could have benefited greatly was better humor. Surely, it would have elevated the film.

Performance wise, Raveena Tandon and Sanjay Dutt deliver commendable performances. Khushalii Kumar and debutant Parth Samthaan are decent, though the duo shares a natural chemistry.

Aruna Irani‘s portrayal of a loving yet stern matriarch feels over-the-top. Her character lacks the necessary nuance and ends up being just a boring caricature of the evil mother-in-law. On the whole, ‘Ghudchadi’ is a predictable watch that falls short in all departments.