153. Laung Laachi; movie review

LAUNG LAACHI
Cert PG
137 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, sex references, violence

Our first trip of the year to Vue, Birmingham and inevitably the conversation alighted upon the death of a customer last month.
Yes, it is apparently true that a man's head became stuck in the new-style foot-rests as he was searching for his phone. Consequently, he had a heart attack and died.
We were relieved to find that screen 28 had conventional seats and our only danger came from a second half nacho becoming stuck in our throats.
As a preliminary to trip to a friend's 60th birthday in Birmingham, Mrs W and I took the belated opportunity to tick off Amberdeep Singh's Laung Laachi.
It stars Neeru Bajwa as the sad arranged-marriage bride of a poor villager (Amberdeep Singh).
She alights up a strange acting game in an attempt to make her fall in love with him but, as they go through this strange process of trying to get to know each other, her wonderful singing attracts attention and bright lights and fame offer allure.
Meanwhile, Ammy Virk plays a well-known singer who is a potential love rival.
Laung Laachi focuses on the choices faced by the young woman and the complex juxtaposition of tradition and modern in Indian society.
And it is one of the better Punjabi films we have seen - making us laugh out loud in a first half hour punctuated with sparkling comedy and giving us more to chew on dramatically in a second half which is dotted with pathos.
I like Bajwa - there is more to her than simply being a screen beauty and here she has to call on her full range as well as show she is also a fine dancer.
Interestingly, I have seen her listed as both director and producer of Laung Laachi, although the overwhelming evidence is that Amberdeep Singh was the former and she was the latter.
I digress. She reinforces her position as queen of Pollywood (Punjabi  cinema) with a fine performance.
However, I think Singh himself can claim the stand-out role as her a husband who is desperately trying to hold on to a wife he loves but fears is out of his league both in looks and abilities.

Reasons to watch: A comedy drama with both laughs and pathos
Reasons to avoid: Its drama takes too long to really bite

Laughs: Two
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The big question - What percentages of marriages in India are arranged?

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