VicKat Weds

What is it about a celebrity wedding that so fascinates us? Several things. The lehenga worn by the bride will then be copied by every young woman and her tailor. The destination will become the next must-visit spot for selfie-loving couples. The song the couple dances to at the sangeet will become everyone’s latest earworm. If it’s Katrina Kaif’s wedding, then even more so. One of the most organised weddings in recent times, with publicity being released in just the right measure for a desperate media, the VicKat wedding was everything we were told the Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt wedding was to be. Beating former boyfriend of six years to the altar, Katrina’s wedding was meticulously orchestrated, from 400 herbal mehendi cones to 100 confectioners. Ranbir and Alia now look all set to marry when their long-awaited Brahmāstra releases in April next year, maximising the noise around that movie. By then VicKat or KatVic or VicTrina may well have announced a movie together, making full use of their joint brand value. Couples who endorse together stay together in Bollywood, whether it is Saifeena, DeepVeer or Virushka. Of course, Bollywood weddings are about love, but they are also about brands and the stories they tell. The Katrina-Vicky union seems one scripted by a more realistic Disney. The beautiful princess, unlucky in love not once but twice, meets a virtuous younger man. She is 38, and he is 33. He promises to be faithful forever. All apparent differences melt away when her multiculturally raised family meets his proud Punjabi parents. Love conquers all. Another A-list power couple is born. Brands clamour for attention, she builds her beauty empire along with “meatier” roles in Zoya Akhtar movies, he rises steadily through the ranks of leading men, and they finally speak about each other on the couch where she first announced her crush, on Koffee With Karan.

Identity Crisis

Abhishek Kapoor’s Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is a romantic drama with a twist, where a muscular, testosterone-powered Punjabi munda (boy) falls in love with Chandigarh’s latest hot kudi (girl). Only the kudi was not always a girl. Vaani Kapoor was very brave in accepting the role, says Abhishek Kapoor, brushing away suggestions that it ought to have been played by a trans person, at a time when Steven Spielberg has cast nonbinary actor Iris Menas in the role of Anybodys in his West Side Story (and got banned for it in several nations). “No mainstream actress wanted to touch the role. They don’t want their brands to get affected, the audience to start saying things about them. They’re making money, they’ve got their stardom, why take a risk?” he says. This is not the first or last movie to be made on the trans community, he says. “I’m hoping it will open doors on more conversations but for people to come through the door, they have to accept this film. Once the idea is normalised, you will see trans people in everything,” he adds. “I didn’t want Vaani to play her as a victim, but as someone comfortable in her own skin, who for years has been crawling, and finally has a horse, her own skin. It’s an evolved state of mind and something only those who’ve been through pain can understand.” Kapoor’s films have always been about identity, whether religious, class or gender. Barring the misstep of Fitoor (2016) and his directorial debut Aryan (2006), his body of work has examined some uncomfortable areas with complete ease. What happens when a Muslim boy falls in love with a Hindu priest’s daughter in the holy town of Kedarnath (2018)? What happens between Hindu and Muslim friends in Ahmedabad during the riots of 2002 in Kai Po Che! (2013)? Should one be satisfied with the life one has chosen in adulthood and forget the joy of one’s youth in Rock On!! (2008)? In Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, one of the first films to be shot during the lockdown in a bio-bubble in Chandigarh in 45 days, Ayushmann Khurrana was on home ground. He brought his own flourishes to the role given he lived there during his youth. Kapoor loves entering new worlds with his work and enjoys the process of total immersion. For this film, the most important question Kapoor is raising is this: What does it mean to be a man? “For me, it is standing up for the truth,” he says.

Did You Know?

When Lara Dutta won the Miss India-Universe title, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza won the Miss India-World and Miss Asia Pacific International titles, respectively. But Lara was the only one with a tiny flat in Mumbai, and the two out-of-towners would stay with her. Twenty-one years later, through movies, partners and children, the friendship continues.

BollywoodcinemaKatrina KaifLara DuttaVaani Kapoorwedding