Varhadi Vajantri

Some films truly test the barrier of what passes for artistic freedom. Varhadi Vajantri falls squarely in this category. One would be hard pressed to mention a single good point about this film.

The story of this comedy drama is of two families headed by Taisaheb (the late Reema Lagoo) and Bhausaheb (Mohan Joshi) who have vowed to get their siblings married before themselves. While the village matchmaker (Makrand Anaspure) arrives as their saviour, their egos and over the top love for their siblings causes the match to keep breaking in increasingly twisted ways.

Anaspure gives a decent performance but the film is often too loud and tone deaf for the audience to build any form of connection with him. Pandharinath Kamble and Hemangi Kavi exist as bouncing boards for Lagoo and Joshi’s characters.

The writing of the entire film is juvenile and lends no semblance of logical progression to the events that unfold. Each character seems like a mere caricature. The characters make sudden decisions without any rhyme or reason throughout the story. Of particular notice is the fact that a film that bills as a comedy, doesn’t get so much as a single chuckle from its audience. The entire experience leaves a bad taste in the mouth and the direction and editing don’t make it any better.

The comedy that stars quite a few notable names manages to crash and burn in spectacular fashion over its 107 min runtime. Varhadi Vajanri is hopefully an artefact of the past and does not sprout any sequels in the future.