Not too long ago, ‘marriage’ and ‘wedding’ had become a favourite subject of Marathi filmmakers. This week’s release Shubh Lagna Savdhan by Sameer Surve too deals with a similar subject. When asked about it, Subodh Bhave, the lead actor of the film, says, “Marriage is something which you can’t avoid. Even in our personal lives, we learn that someone in the family is getting hitched and then we crack jokes, exchange anecdotes about what happened in so-and-so’s marriage. ‘Do you remember...?’ we ask each other. That’s the charm and fun of the subject. The couple who are going to get married, are no doubt important, but what usually happens is that subplots like these — the fun, the sulks, the complaints and resentment amongst other family members — takes precedence. This is what happens in Shubh Lagna Savdhan too.”
Subodh plays the role of Aniket, a businessman based in Dubai. He doesn’t believe in marriage, but is very much in love with Rucha, played by Shruti Marathe.
Shruti’s character wants marriage. When asked about what Rucha liked about Aniket, the actress says, “Rucha is passionately in love with Aniket and wants to get married to him. She is 28-29 and her parents are worried about her advancing age. Aniket so far hasn’t been convinced about their wedding, but an ensuing marriage in the family gives their story a push. She puts her relationship at stake, she wants to assuage his feelings that there can be a ‘happily ever after’.”
The wedding mentioned is that of her maternal cousin, Ira (Revati Limaye) and Rohan (Pratik Deshmukh). “My character Ira and her fiancee are a little over the top when it comes to getting married. They want to go the full hog, with destination wedding etc. They want a Yash Raj wedding,” explains Revati.
With these two pairs, Sameer wants to highlight the bond that is shared between couples. Says he, “I think marriage should not be seen as if you are being chained or bound to something. It’s a bond. Our ancestors had a clear idea of what the relationship should be like — they had invested depth and logic into it. The rituals had a certain significance, the Savdhan in the mantra is meant as a question — Are you ready for the responsibility that marriage entails? Marriage is not something to be taken lighty. This is what I wanted to focus on.”
Adds Pratik, “Our characters (Ira and I) have known each other for sometime. As Ira said, we are a little enthusiastic about getting married, having fun, making merry during festivities. We want to be the ‘hero and heroine’ of our story, and provide a counterfoil to Rucha and Aniket. There’s a dialogue between the two (Rucha and Aniket) where they wonder if we are serious about getting married. My grandparents and uncle too are worried. So we explore the concept of marriage, the generational thought process, our fantasies and so on.”
On a lighter note, Subodh adds, “Shubh Lagna...will be reminiscent of Rajshri brand of cinema. There are families, there is banter, there are weddings and some good hummable numbers. Also, it’s a very clean entertainer. It’s a change for me to act in this movie considering that I was doing biopics and period films till sometime back.”