Been there, seen that

Jasmine Singh

Anything in excess is not good. Even love overdose can be lethal! And overdose of tradition and culture on Punjabi cinema leads to a film, Parahuna, which is this week’s Punjabi film release. 

How many more on-screen traditional marriages and ceremonies do we have to watch? Enough already! Although the film is centred around Parahuna, it is nothing but a wedding gone wrong. 

Directed by Amrit Raj Chadha and Mohit Banwait, the film has everything that you’ve seen before, which of course wouldn’t have been the issue, had it been presented differently. Rural Punjabi weddings or issues revolving around the wedding seem to be in trend and this film follows the trend, without setting one!

The dialogues in the film are light but ordinary and so are the punches. The story of the film cashes on a parahuna’s standing in a Punjabi family, but more attention is given to giddha, boliyan, shagan, singing suhaag then putting meat in the story. 

Like all ‘vyah wali’ movies, Parahuna too has a battery of artistes, but the directors could not define his characters. Except for the parahunas, Karamjit Anmol, Harby Sangha and Sardar Sohi, there won’t be any characters that will stay with you after the film. 

Kulwinder Billa and Wamiqa Gabbi play the lead role in the film. Kulwinder, a fabulous singer and Wamiqa, a talented actress, together on screen they do not create a magic. If the two were cast because they share the same eye colour, well, it doesn’t ‘blink’ a bell!

Wamiqa is always a delight to watch on screen, but Parahuna couldn’t make use of her talent. This is one good artiste who has been wasted. Kulwinder Billa, as we said, is a good singer and a performer, but if only this was a live show. The artiste needs to work on his dialogue delivery, and acting. 

Although, their characters look and sound repetitive (only the designations have changed), Karamjit Anmol, Sardar Sohi and Harby Sangha and Nirmal Rishi still manage to delight. The music of the film is average. 

As nothing was going well, the makers decided to end the film on an abrupt note. Well, given that this is the ninth or tenth (or more) film made on traditional marriages, how different can be Parahuna!

jasmine@tribunemail.com