Brilliant and touching

A lot of fun.

A Disappointing Continuation

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

This is not real at all but sometimes mind just wants to forget the cruel world and go on a smooth ride, this is that smooth ride. Acting wise, Amrita Rao shines as Poonam and Shahid is okay. This teaches good values and has a beautiful music. Full family movie and a treat to watch.

I watched the film because I have grown up with the Sooraj Barjatya films & was keen to see what they would offer after the disastrous Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon..The story of the film is incredibly simple & I feel that the simplest stories make the best love stories, as they revolve around the emotions of the characters. So, this is definitely not a movie for someone who likes to sit at the edge of their seat when watching a film.The performances of the movie are good.. Shahid & Amrita do justice to their role.. The support cast is wonderful. The standout performance is Seema Biswas - excellent in her role. Mohnish Behl is great in his bit part. I love the writing in the Shahid-Amrita scenes especially in the second half.I don't want to debate whether the film is realistic or not.. Its a film, so a certain amount of exaggeration & fiction to heighten the drama is understandable. But, I appreciate the message at the end of the film - importance of love & trust over physical appearance and accepting daughters & not daughter-in-laws into families.

I had lost faith in Sooraj R. Barjatya after the movie Main Prem Ki Deewani hoon, then a year back now I saw promos for Vivah which looked good. But I didn't want to waste my hard earned money watching it in cinema. When the film first came out on DVD I rented it and watched and I loved the movie and took back my words for Sooraj. I just finished watching it yesterday again and this time I thought I have to review this movie. Sooraj R. BarjatyaGot it right this time, okay I was not a huge fan of Hum App Ke Hai Kaun. But I have always loved Manie Pyar kiya, after Manie Pyar kiya to me I think Vivah is Barjatyas best work. I hardly ever cry in a movie but this movie made me feel like crying. If you have ever been in love before then there will be many moments that will touch you in this movie, the movie is just too sweet and will have you falling in love with it, my view a much underrated movie.The story of this movie you might call desi and very old times, but to me it seemed modern because the two couples which are getting an arrange marriage are aware it's an old tradition. It's done in present times, lots of people don't believe in this arrange marriage, but I do. The journey between the engagement and wedding which will always be special and this movie shows it clearly. When Prem meets Poonam for the first time, they show it how it is and that's reality and my parents where saying that's how they got married and it showed it in a way which is so real yes people the way Prem and Poonam meet in this movie is how most marriages happen. It was a very sweet, you feel nervous yet excited, the song "Do Ajnabe" shows that very well. Getting back to the story yes it's a journey which you soon get glued to between Prem and Poonam (Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao) and there families. A twist occurs in this movie which is really good, the last 30mins you all will be reaching for the tissue box.What makes this film so amazing is the chemistry between Prem and Poonam, how they fall for each other is too sweet. Simple boy and Simple Girl, when they first meet during and after the song "Do Anjane Ajnabe" It's very sweet to watch, She hardly says anything and Prem does all the talking being honest with her about his past and the girl he liked and him smoking. Then it leads on to them all having a family trip and then that's when they really do fall for each other. It makes you just want to watch the couple and watch all the sweet moments they have. Another factor is that Poonam chichi is really mean to her and you feel sorry for Poonam because she has been treated bad and makes you want to see her happy and when she finally finds happiness, you too start feeling happy with her the movie basically makes you fall in love with Poonam more then just Prem. When she finds happiness through Prem you want her to stay happy and also hope nothing goes wrong because the character is shown as a sweet simple girl. Which brings me to performances and Amrita Roa as Poonam is amazing in the movie, her best work till date you will fall in love with this innocent character and root her on to find happiness. Shahid Kapoor as Prem is amazing too, he is Poonam support in the film, he is her happiness the movie, together they share an amazing chemistry and I have never seen a cuter couple since SRK and Kajol. If Ishq Vishk didn't touch you to telling you how cute they are together this surely will. "Mujhe Haq hai" the song and before that is amazing chemistry they show. Scenes which touched me was when Prem takes Poonam to his room and shows her that's where they will be staying and he opens her up and they have a moment between them which is too sweet. Again if you have ever been in love with someone that much these scenes you can defiantly connect to. The film is just the sweetest thing you will see ever.The direction is spot on, to me a good movie is basically something that can pull me in and stop me believe for this hours what is being seen here is fake and there is a camera filing them. To me this film pulled me in and for those three hours I felt really connected to the movie. The songs you will only truly like when you have seen the movie as they are songs placed in the situation after I saw the movie I been playing the songs non stop! The music is amazing, the story is simply amazing too what more can I ask for?What I can finally say it, rarely do we get a movie that makes us feel good, this movie after you have seen it will make you feel really good and make you want to be a better person. Its basically the sweetest journey ever, its basically showing you they journey between engagement and marriage and many people say it's the bestest part of your life…Well this movie actually shows you way do people actually say that? Why do people actually say that the journey is just that amazing! Watch this movie and you will find out why the journey is amazing!

I have an impression of how Sooraj Barjatya makes his films – starting from Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hai and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon – he has always made over the top movies. Showing everything bigger than life – the family, the relationships, the ceremonies and everything he does.So when I had heard of Vivah, I had very low expectations from what to expect from this Rajshri Production cropper – the same old story of two family, marriages etc. On top of that I read the story of it – poor town girl, rich city boy – arranged marriage story. Oh, I am totally out of this crap – I said to myself.Six months later – Vivah was celebrating its silver jubilee in a small town of North West India – Jaipur and still running strong. That interested me a bit, and I started reading some internet reviews. I found that the movie has flopped miserably in metros and cities, but is doing great business in small towns and villages. Oops….That factor took my notice and when the occasion came I decided to give this boring Indian saga a go, just to see what is on the cards.The story is about a small time merchant (Alok Nath) and his family – wife (Seema Biswas) and two daughter – one own (Amrutha Prakash) and another adopted daughter (Amrita Rao). The family gets an invitation of engagement from a Delhi based business man's (Anupam Kher) son (Shahid Kapoor). The family meets, the boy likes girl, the girl likes boy, engagement is held immediately, and after 6 months the marriage date is fixed. The only problem is that Seema Biswas does not like to give importance and spend too much money on Amrita. On the day of marriage there is a fire in the house and Amrita saves the life of Amrutha – that changes the Seema Biswas' heart. But will the boy – Shahid Kapoor still marry Amrita who has suffered 40% of burns on her body.So the story is simple. The Director Sooraj has kept the traditional Rajshri production style - keeping the basic strong. And what is the basic? Indian family values, tradition, respect, love, sacrifice etc. But this time Sooraj has learned his lessons and kept the story simple. He has not gone over the top on any occasion. The sets are simple, the story format is simple, the sets are simple, the dialogues are also not over the top, but reflective of emotions. And this format marvels and fits Rajshri tradition. It was such a relief to see a true Rajshri movie after such a long time – more than two decades I think.The stealer of performance is given by none other than Seema Biswas in a very complex role of a traditional and jealous mother. She speaks so less with her mouth but tremendous with her eyes. When she opens her mouth and speaks a few words just venom comes out of it. Great acting! She becomes the capital stone of the movie on which the script hinges.Remaining actors have performed their roles diligently. The music by Ravindra Jain is the biggest let down, except the single song – Hum Ko Hak Hai, which is melodious.In usual Sooraj Barjatya style, the life of small town street where the house is situated is built on the set. But still the detailing is good and only a keen eye that spots the existence of set.Overall a movie that fairs above expectations.(Stars 6.5 out of 10)