Kriti Kharbanda invites you to witness 14 Phere which are taking place at Zee5’s mandap on July 23

Sheetal

While we all have heard of movies that promise double the fun and excitement, Kriti Kharbanda’s latest outing, a social comedy, promises double the pheras (the seven rounds in Hindu wedding). Quirky, isn’t it? Here 14 Phere taking place at Zee5’s mandap on July 23.

A social comedy with a message for parents to look beyond social sanctions and accept who your children choose to spend their lives with, Kriti says her close friend went for a court marriage first and returned home to convince her parents.

She says, “My friend was lucky that her parents understood her. So, she finally got married to her boyfriend and that was the closest 14 phere experience I got. I hope this film will help put things into perspective in a fun way.”

It is for the first time that Kriti and Vikrant Massey are sharing screen space together. He will play the role of Sanjay, her college-time lover and live-in partner whom Aditi, played by Kriti, wishes to marry.

Directed by Devanshu Singh, written by Manoj Kalwani, 14 Phere also features Gauahar Khan and Jameel Khan. On her pairing with Vikrant, last seen in Haseen Dillruba opposite Taapsee Pannu, she says, “I think we hit it off from the first meeting. It never felt like we didn’t know each other before. We both were comfortable and excited to be working with each other. I remember when I read the script, it felt like one big complicated yet planned solution to avoid runaway marriages and convince both the parties. I was hooked and couldn’t wait to know what happens to Sanjay and Aditi’s relationship.”

And did she take something home from the sets of 14 Phere? Kriti says it was quite the opposite. “I think I have brought more to the sets in terms of my character, commitment then took something home. Now, I remember I got malaria while shooting for this film. Also, the pandemic cut short our shooting schedule to just two locations –Mumbai and Lucknow. Otherwise, we were to shoot in parts of Delhi, Bihar and Jaipur as well.”

There is this song from the movie which Kriti hums often. “It is about the relationship of a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, which will move the audience to tears,” she says.

Kriti is fine with the OTT release of the film but feels theatre outing is a different experience all-together. She says she will watch a movie on big screen once the pandemic is over.

This Punjabi kudi, brought up in Bengaluru, carries the perfect mix of Indianness, but she yearns to portray a Punjabi girl on screen. She says, “It is for my mother that I have to play a Punjabi kudi on screen because that will make her happy. I got to speak Rajasthani and Bihari languages for 14 Phere and now that I got a hang of it, I cannot wait to tick some other dialects off my list.” Happy in her own bubble of pole dancing, meditation, reading books and what not, she has grown a thick skin to the questions on marriage. She hopes this film will answer these questions.