Ginny Weds Sunny movie review: Yami Gautam, Vikrant Massey’s Netflix film is like an unbearably long TikTok video

Ginny Weds Sunny
Director: Puneet Khanna
Cast: Vikrant Massey, Yami Gautam, Ayesha Raza

Ginny Weds Sunny is many things — an ode to stalking culture, an excuse for Haldiram’s product placement, and just cause for streamers to regulate their content — but its biggest crime is how heartbreakingly it lets down its two leads, Yami Gautam and Vikrant Massey.

Massey, for whom this is the third Netflix release in about as many weeks, is massively miscast as Sunny, a sexually inexperienced West Delhi boy who seems like the kind of person who makes TikToks in his spare time.

That’s fitting, because Ginny Weds Sunny, with its reliance on cringe sound effects and cheesy drama, often resembles an unbearably long TikTok video. In fact, I’ve seen more competently put together ‘films’ on the banned platform than this.

It’s a bafflingly bad movie, tonally inconsistent to the point where scenes can transition from broad comedy involving paneer to sappy Ekta Kapoor drama, with a Jubin Nautiyal song playing in the background. Certain ‘twists’ are so nutty that you begin to wonder if they were put together by Kapil Sharma’s writing team, at gunpoint.

After being manipulated into wooing her daughter by an aunty who’d give Sima Taparia a run for her money — she prides herself on being a brilliant matchmaker — Sunny begins indulging in behaviour that can only be described as mom-sanctioned stalking. He tails Ginny endlessly, popping up at metro stations every day, offering rides in autos, and even showing up at her house. She smiles it off. It’s 2020 and she smiles it off.

One scene is particularly confusing. After being given a heads-up by Ginny’s mother, Sunny shows up at a tree planting drive (what?), with a mission to ask Ginny out to a Badshah concert. But instead of simply asking her out, he concocts an elaborate plan that involves a fake phone call and a last minute cancellation. This is the sort of pointlessness that defines Ginny Weds Sunny.

With a complete absence of a compelling plot, most of the burden falls on the shoulders of the actors. But they’ve been left to drown in a pool of mediocrity. Yami, who’s played versions of this character in the past, most memorably in Vicky Donor, is considerably more comfortable as the rather unlikable Ginny, who complains about being led on by her Haryanvi ex-boyfriend, but does exactly that to Sunny.

The very talented Massey, however, is caught like a deer in the headlights. His accent, especially when he’s speaking in English, is noticeably inconsistent. Sunny pronounces the word ‘restaurant’ as ‘resh-taw-rent’, but other words, such as ‘confusion’ and ‘princess’ with the sort of refinement that betrays a convent school education. Sometimes this happens in the same scene.

I can’t be sure of this, but it almost seems as if director Puneet Khanna shot no more than a couple of takes for most scenes. In some circles, this would be considered efficient filmmaking, and a matter of pride for the actors. “Ek take diya,” and all that. But perhaps if there were more options on the table, it would’ve been easier to fix the film.

More effort, for instance, seems to have been paid to the song-and-dance numbers than the actual plot. That’s ironic, because with the exception of the first number — LOL — the musical interludes contribute nothing to the narrative. Instead, they bring it to a grinding halt. An unnecessary sequence in the middle of the film, featuring singers Neha Kakkar, Mika Singh and Badshah in mind-bending cameos — they also perform the track — should’ve been deleted. As should several other scenes.

Also read: Cargo movie review: Innovative but inert, Vikrant Massey’s Netflix film wastes promising premise

It doesn’t work as a Delhi movie either. For instance, both Ginny and her mother feel the need to explain the eccentricities of Punjabi culture to Sunny, who also happens to be a Punjabi. He’d know. You’re left to wonder if the exposition was instead meant for the audience. It’s sloppy work, all around.

Besides the coronavirus, Ginny Weds Sunny is easily the worst thing to happen to both movies and weddings this year.

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The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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