Film: Wedding Gift
Producer: Vikram Prabhu
Director: Vikram Prabhu
Starring: Nishan Nanaiah, Sonu Gowda, Prema, Achyuth Kumar, Yamuna Srinidhi and others
Stars: 3
This week’s release ‘Wedding Gift’ is not a story about gift got during the time of a wedding, but it is about the gift given by the Law called 498A to women to fight against the atrocities she has to face by husband or in laws of the marriage. The film tells how the law is being misused in the recent times.
‘Wedding Gift’ tells the story of Vilas Rao (Nishan Nanaiah) a pharmaceutical businessman, who falls in love with Akanksha (Sonu Gowda) without knowing much about her. Vilas marries Akanksha only to find out that she has no interest in him, but only his wealth. When he questions her, she files a case for physically and mentally harassing against Vilas and his mother and sends them to jail. What all happens next and is it possible for Vilas to prove that he is not guilty forms the crux of the film.
Till now, there are plenty of films which tell about the atrocities on a woman by her in laws and how she fights against them. But ‘Wedding Gift’ is a film which tells how a law can be misused by woman using the same law which is there to protect her. This is the USP of the film and the other highlight of the film is a woman fighting the case against a woman and proving how the law is being misused in the recent times. Though these type of films is not new in other languages, this is quite a fresh concept to Kannada cinema.
The film might look different in terms of theme. However, the same could not be said about the entire film. ‘Wedding Gift’ could have been an edgy court room thriller with lots of twists and turns. The first half of the film revolves around the love and marriage story of Vilas and Akanksha. The film slowly takes a little pace in the second half. But the film is quite predictable and does not offer any thrills. The court room scenes are flat.
If performances by main artists were up to the mark, the film would also have been better. Apart from a noteworthy performance by Sonu Gowda, performances by lead artists including Nishan, Prema falls flat. Achyuth Kumar, Pavithra Lokesh has done their bit promptly. If Vikram and his team could have worked more on the script, ‘Wedding Gift’ would surely be a gift to the audience.
