Vivah
File:Vivah (2006 film) poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sooraj R. Barjatya
Produced by	Ajit Kumar Barjatya Kamal Kumar Barjatya Rajkumar Barjatya
Screenplay by	Sooraj R. Barjatya
Story by	Sooraj R. Barjatya
Starring	Shahid Kapoor Amrita Rao Anupam Kher Alok Nath
Music by	Ravindra Jain
Cinematography	Harish Joshi
Editing by	V.N. Mayekar
Distributed by	Rajshri Productions
Release date(s)	November 10, 2006
Running time	162 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	53.90 crore[1]

Vivah - A Journey From Engagement To Marriage ... (Hindi: विवाह, Urdu: وواہ, English: Marriage) is a 2006 Bollywood romantic drama film. The film is written and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and stars Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao in their fourth movie together.

Vivah is the story of the engagement period of Prem (Shahid Kapoor), an upper-class business manager, and Poonam (Amrita Rao), a middle class college student. It is set in Delhi and also in the fictional town of Madhupur, located near Delhi in Uttar Pradesh.

Vivah was released on 10 November 2006 across India and received a Telugu dub as Parinayam.^[2][3]

Sooraj R. Barjatya noted that the story of Vivah is based upon a newspaper article his father read in 1988.^[4] Like in all of Sooraj R. Barjatya's previous movies, the male lead is, once again, called 'Prem'. Filming took place during the first months of 2006.^[5] The jewellery Poonam receives from Prem during the movie was created by Indian jeweller D’damas,^[6] while Amrita Rao's costumes were created by Indian designer Anna Singh^[7] and Shahid Kapoor's clothes were created by Shabina Khan. Both designers were part of a crew of 166 people.^[8]

Filming took place in Mathura, as well as in Almora,^[9] Nainital, Delhi, Mumbai, the Filmcity in Goregaon, as well as Madh Island, Lonavla, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Moradabad and Ranikhet.^[8]

Plot[link]

Poonam (Amrita Rao) lost her parents, when she was very young. She was brought up by her uncle Krishna Kant (Alok Nath) and her aunt Rama (Seema Biswas). However, Rama is jealous of her niece and dislikes her, since Poonam is more beautiful than her own daughter Rajni (Amrita Prakash). Poonam grows up to be a soft-spoken, traditional and beautiful girl. Her only wish is to get a mother's love from her aunt Rama. Bhagat-ji (Manoj Joshi), a jeweller and a friend of Krishna Kant's, likes Poonam and her beautiful nature. He decides to match-make for her with Prem (Shahid Kapoor), son of Mr. Harishchandra (Anupam Kher).

Mr. Harishchandra, a rich businessman, tells Prem about the proposed marriage. He believes Prem is of proper age to marry. Prem's brother, Sunil (Samir Soni), had also married Bhavna (Lata Sabharwal) at the same age. Prem, however, is hesitant to marry, since he feels himself to be very young and wants to focus on his career first. Harishchandra convinces Prem to meet Poonam before deciding anything. They visit Krishna Kant's family and let Prem and Poonam get acquainted with each other. Though their first conversation is awkward, Prem and Poonam agree to get married, as they are instantly attracted to each other. The marriage date is set after six months and the two families plan a short vacation at Krishna Kant's summer residence in Som Sarovar as an opportunity to know each other better.

Poonam and Prem blissfully enjoy their time together at Som Sarovar. After several carefree days, Harishchandra and his family returns home to attend to its business, which leaves Poonam and Prem the choice to communicate via telephone, internet or letter. Despite the distance between them, they grow closer and Prem, before going on a business trip to Japan, calls her for support. Poonam tells him on the phone that she loves him. When Prem calls Poonam from the airport in Japan, he confesses his love for her as well. Soon after, Prem comes back from Japan and is pleasantly surprised to find Poonam with the rest of his family. She spends some time at his house and finally returns to her own family to prepare for the wedding.

Both families get busy in preparing for the wedding. Rama becomes very irritated and angry with Krishna Kant for spending lavishly on Poonam's wedding, as she fears there will be no money left for Rajni's marriage. As a result, Rama acts colder than usual to Poonam and wants nothing to do with the wedding. This hurts Poonam.

The night before the main wedding ceremony, a fire emerges at Krishna Kant's house. Though Poonam runs out of the house in time, she realizes that Rajni is still inside and goes back to save her. In this attempt, Poonam gets heavily burnt. She is immediately taken to the hospital, where the family is told that the burns on her body are extremely severe but luckily, her face is untouched. The fact that Poonam risked her own skin to save Rajni changes Rama's view about her. Prem and his family, occupied with their own wedding preparations, are informed of Poonam's accident and rush to the hospital. Poonam is now very unsure if Prem will marry her because she has been scarred and the marks will take months to fade away. The doctor (Mohnish Behl) informs the family that Poonam will take much time to recover. Harishchandra arranges for burn specialists to be flown in from Delhi for Poonam's operation. Prem is determined to marry Poonam and, when she tells him to take a look at her deep scars, he refuses, saying that his love does not deserve this test. He says that he will always love her no matter what and puts sindoor (vermilion) on her hairline, marking her as his wife. The operation is successful. Finally, Prem and Poonam get married, to begin their life together as husband and wife.

Cast[link]

• Shahid Kapoor as Prem – A young man from Delhi, just to about to start his career in his father's business enterprise. He gets engaged to Poonam and falls in love with her.
• Amrita Rao as Poonam "Bitto" – A young woman from Madhupur with very traditional values. She is an orphan and lives with her uncle, aunt and cousin Rajni. She gets engaged to Prem.
• Anupam Kher as Mr. Harischandra – Prem's and Sunil's father, a kind man and head of a large business enterprise. Bound to traditional values and very loving to his family, he urges Prem to get engaged to Poonam.
• Alok Nath as Krishna Kant "Chacha" – Rajni's father and Poonam's uncle. He loves his niece very much and spends a lot of time with her.
• Seema Biswas as Rama "Chachi" – Rajni's mother and Poonam's aunt. She is barely on talking terms with Poonam and very jealous of her, as her niece is more beautiful and elegant than her own daughter.
• Samir Soni as Sunil – Prem's brother and Mr. Harishchandra's elder son. He works at his father's enterprise and is always seen reading newspapers at home.
• Lata Sabharwal as Bhavna – Sunil's wife. She is a warm, kind and good-humored person who takes care of her family.
• Amrita Prakash as Rajni "Chhoti" – Krishnakant's and Rama's daughter, and Poonam's cousin. A bright and mischievous girl, she lacks in beauty compared to Poonam, but adores her cousin nevertheless.
• Manoj Joshi as Bhagat ji – A jeweller and trader. He knows the families of both Prem and Poonam and arranges their meeting.
• Dinesh Lamba as Munim – Krishnakant's secretary.
• Ameya Pandya as Rahul – Bhavna's and Sunil's son.
• Mohnish Behl as Doctor Rashid Khan – The doctor who treats Poonam.

Reception[link]

Box office and ratings[link]

Like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Rajshri Productions released limited number of prints for the film and eventually increased prints with increasing popularity.^[10] The film was declared a blockbuster, after earning Rs 22.22 crore net gross after seven weeks of running. The film earned Rs 35 crore in box office earnings.^[11] By the end of November, it was reported that there had been over 4 million (4,000,000 * $9.99 = approx. Rs. 18 Cr.) online streams of Vivah.^[12] After more than six months, its position remained in the top 10 at the Indian box office despite its limited release and competition from some of year's and industry's most successful movies including Dhoom 2, Bhagam Bhag, Krrish, Don - The Chase Begins Again, Jaan-E-Mann all being released after Vivah's debut.^[13]

Critical[link]

Vivah received a mixed response by critics: Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM generally compliments the actors by calling Shahid Kapoor a "tremendous actor", Amrita Rao "splendid all through" and compliments the strong supporting cast, he criticises the first half as "ordinary/routine".^[14] Raja Sen of Rediff gave a generally negative review of Vivah, calling it "a nightmare" and "unforgivably regressive".^[15] Deepa Ghalot of Sify.com called Vivah "close to being regressive" and "syrupy sweet", however, she complimented Shahid Kapoor's acting.^[16] The Hindustan Times called Vivah "boring" and an "utopia", but complimented Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao on their acting, calling the first one "good", but "lacking charisma" and the latter "sweet".^[17] "The Hindu" however called Vivah "lovable" and a "choice unlikely to regret".^[18] BBC.co.uk complimented Shahid Kapoor as being "playful", called the movie itself however "sickeningly sentimental".^[19] The Telegraph criticised Vivah for "lacking plot", "flat characters" and mentioning that the story is "rather weak" and "improbable".^[20]

Cultural Impact[link]

Indian painter M. F. Husain, who has painted Madhuri Dixit, the female lead of Sooraj R. Barjatya's Hum Aapke Hain Koun, decided to create a series of pictures inspired by Amrita Rao and Vivah. He announced to create "an entire exhibition around her" and noted her "tremendous potential".^[21] He organised a private screen for 150 friends and press attendees to "convey his interest for the film" at Dubai’s Plaza cinema.^[21][22] The Regent, a theater in Patna, Bihar, has put up a huge paandal (festive banner) in order to promote the movie. The paandal reads Poonam weds Prem and the theater has been getting inquiries if they entered the wedding business. Several movies have been highly successful in Bihar and their protagonists have been emulated by the movie goers; in Vivah's case, it has become fashionable to wed like Poonam and Prem from Vivah.^[23]

Promotion[link]

To promote the movie, Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao have sold tickets themselves at the Fame Malad Theatre in Malad, Mumbai.^[24] Also, there have been sarees, bindis and free ticket give-aways in several theatres where the movie ran.^[25]

Internet Release[link]

Vivah is the first Indian movie to be simultaneously released in cinema and on the production company's official site.^[26] Rajshri Media Limited, the digital arm of the Rajshri group is responsible for the release. The company hopes to marginalise piracy.

Rajshri.com has served one million streams within seven days in association with limewire networks i.e.one stream is priced at $9.99 roughly it makes Rs.4.5cr. in the first week itself, and Rajjat A. Barjatya, managing director of Rajshri Media Limited claims that Vivah has done "very well" being streamed online.^[26]

Soundtrack[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
IndiaFM	[27]

Soundtrack includes a Bonus CD from Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Ravindra Jain, the music director of Vivah has put together a soundtrack of old world charm, with a full orchestra behind some of the best known voices of the Hindi movie scene. The orchestra combines with classical Indian instruments, like the sitar, sarod, violin, dholak and tabla to produce a blend between classical western and classical Indian music. The music has, however been criticised due to its monotony, with the range of singers, choice of instrument and music arrangements being very similar.^[28] Rediff.com wrote in its music review that "Vivah's music disappoints".^[28]

See also[link]

• Vivāha

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vivah at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site