Wedding Gift movie review: An dull and unimaginative take on feminism and misuse of law

2/5

Story:

Vilas Rao (Nishan Nanaiah), a young self-made businessman, falls head over heels for BPO operator Akanksha (Sonu Gowda) over a serendipitous phone call. Akanksha is a staunch feminist, or so she claims, and asserts that if the two were to get married she wouldn't be willing to play the role of a typical doting wife. But cracks begin to show up in the marriage when Akanksha grows increasingly aloof and untrustworthy, thus prompting Vilas to verify her past and find several shocking facts about her. Things go completely downhill for him when he (along with his mother) is arrested on false charges of attempt to murder and cruelty/harassment. With the highly credible lawyer Bhavana Murthy (Prema) by his side, can Vilas clear his name and also teach Akanksha a lesson?

Review:

In essence, Wedding Gift is a compassionate tale for and about the many wronged men in our society. Men who have had to endure the loopholes in the judicial system such as section 498A of the Indian Penal Code which relates to cruelty or harassment against women in a marriage. The IPC section has been often described as a "most dangerous" and is known to have been grossly misused to target innocent men, and Wedding Gift is the story of the outrageous depths of this misuse. In one of the passing scenes in the film, we find a character, an unabashed feminist and man-hater, explaining that 498A is compensation offered by the Indian law to its women citizens for sustaining social injustice at the hands of the opposite gender. "It's the perfect Wedding Gift," she says and adds that every woman must accept the gift to survive in this awfully lopsided world. In another scene set in the courtroom, lawyer Bhavana Murthy says to the presiding judge only 15% of the cases related to the IPC section 498A have any merit, suggesting that many innocent men and their families have fallen prey to its misuse. "It's not just Me Too, your honor, it's 'Men Too'," she vociferates. In a nutshell, Wedding Gift is a cautionary tale that openly sides with men and their plights but does so in a largely contrived and divisive manner that one is likely to look at it as a lost opportunity.

The first film that one is likely to recall while watching Wedding Gift is Section 375. The Hindi film starring Akshaye Khanna and Richa Chaddha saw a courtroom drama unfold about a rather complicated sexual harassment case involving a self-indulgent filmmaker and his female employee. The film, despite the controversial subject matter, manages to remain nuanced and objective (to a large extent), allowing the audience to make its own decisions. And nuance is the operative word in scenarios dealing with gender-related conflict because, if otherwise, narratives shrouded with personal opinions tend to come across loud and redundant. 

Unfortunately, Vikram Prabhus' Wedding Gift suffers from the latter in a glaring way and his well-intended idea is ultimately rendered unimaginative. His writing lacks the grip of an intricate plot and the lackluster execution only makes this worse. The problem isn't just the one-dimensional perspective, but also the fact that Vikram Prabhu never seems interested in exploring his complex subject through his characters. 

Take the character of Akanksha, the wife in the saga, who swindles her husband in the garb of being a feminist. For the makers, Akanksha represents a twisted, conniving form of the modern woman who goes to great lengths to get what she wants, breaks moral and ethical boundaries, and uses people around only to her benefit. On the other hand, there's the husband Vilas Rao who is equally entitled but is presented in a much kinder and more positive light, resulting in blatant binaries among the character. And yet, the film comes across as completely disinterested in understanding the woman or exploring the legitimate reasons for her evil. Although, the narrative brings in the second prominent character in the form of advocate Bhavana Murthy who sides with Vilas through his struggle to prove his innocence, but the writing is way too bland and insincere to even attempt to tell a larger, twin-sided story. The film's stance on feminism and its myriad facet, challenges, etc. too is unconvincing and frankly, quite appalling in certain parts.

Verdict:

Wedding Gift, as a film, tries to be a crusader for the male cause in the current polarized society but, in actuality, ends up being a disservice in many ways. The film is marred with a lack of empathy or curiosity to understand human nature, which shows in amateurish writing and execution. The efforts to bring the "other side" of the gender battle to life result in a few interesting moments but as a whole, Wedding Gift isn't good enough to trigger a credible argument.