Review of Movie Raksha Bandhan- A more Dowry Based Rather Rakhi Based

Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth, Deepika Khanna, Seema Pahwa

Director: Aanand L Rai

Overview : Raksha Bandhan is high octane melodrama with lots of drama , pain , tension and greif.

Storyline :The story is set in Chandni Chowk Old Delhi where Lala Kedarnath (Akshay Kumar) runs his ancestors  chat shop , with the myth that if pregnant ladies eat his golgappes  will  ensure that deliver male child.

 Whole of chandni chowk believe including lala that girls can only be married to good grooms if they give good dowry.

The good-humoured Kedarnath is burdened by a commitment made to his dying mother when he promised he would marry off his four younger sisters before his own marriage.  Kedarnath is struggling to accrue funds and is usually beaten by the dowry demands. Especially as his 3 sisters are off beat .On the other hand  his childhood love Sapna (Bhumi Pednekar) and her unbearably anxious father are finally losing patience after years of waiting, Sapna’s father gives him an ultimatum of 8months which were left of his retirement. Will he be able to fulfilll his promise forms or there is a twist forms the rest of story.

Technical Review : Anand L. Rai though he is back on his safe ground of family movies but this dowry based story is queit old .Though first half is humorous with good music.The second half is stagnant .

The message of this movie is finally about the illegal practice of dowry and its consequences on girls and their families.

 Through Kedarnath’s obvious bias towards his fairest, loveliest sister Gayatri (Sadia Khateeb), the taunts and insults at the other three—Durga (Deepika Khanna) is overweight (called a ‘double decker’), the dusky Lakshmi (Smrithi Srikanth) is referred to as ‘amavas ki raat’ (no moon night) and the youngest Saraswati (Sahejmeen Kaur) is a tomboy who they want to transform “from Sunny Deol to Sunny Leone”. So there is body shaming angle also tackled by director Plus none of the women have any purpose. This includes the character of Sapna who either threatens Kedarnath that she will marry another or becomes the self-sacrificing woman who will wait endlessly for her man. Pednekar mostly weeps through the film. Indeed, there are a lot of tear.

Performances  : Akshay Kumar has the entire movie on his shoulder , He tried hard to be his best but ends up doing average.Rest of the artist have not much to do.

Final Word : The Movie is aptly titled and released so can be watched once

Rating :2.5*/5*

Watch trailer here