Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Vidya, these English folks make a video of their wedding night and watch it until their old age. That’s why they remain so happy. So, I’ve been thinking, we should also record our wedding night!”
Directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa, the 2024 Bollywood movie “Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video stars Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri as newlywed couple Vicky and Vidya, whose lives are turned upside down when a private CD from their honeymoon in Goa goes missing after a robbery at their home. Looking into their case is police officer Laadle (Vijay Raaz), who is more interested in wooing Vicky’s older sister Chanda (Mallika Sherawat), a free soul with zero interest in marriage.
“Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video” is set in 1997, just two years after the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex video went “viral” around the world. So if you really must watch a comedy about a couple losing their sex-tape, watch the series ‘Pam & Tommy’ on Hulu or Hotstar. But unlike the “97% Paarivarik” (family-friendly) promise in the trailer for “Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video”, the Hollywood series is only meant for adult viewers.
If it weren’t for the CD and a couple of Bollywood songs from the ’90s that play throughout Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, the film oddly lacks any real retro vibe, and some jokes don’t even make sense for the era. For instance, Vicky is a henna artist who can’t string an English sentence together, but in the second half of the film, he says, “I will take you to Wakanda if you want” to a character—a Black Panther joke that feels completely out of place, especially since the character wasn’t even popular back then.
On the brighter side, Triptii Dimri is super cute as Vicky’s doctor wife Vidya, but the actors’ on-screen chemistry is practically nonexistent. For a moment, I wondered if it was due to the age gap between the actors, but then I remembered how Rajkummar Rao shared great chemistry with the younger Janhvi Kapoor in Mr. & Mrs. Mahi. Clearly, the problem isn’t the age—it’s the bland script and uninspired direction. Maybe the recycled and rehashed 90s songs in the trailer should’ve been plenty indication that not a lot of new ideas went into the making of this film.
Let’s be honest—Raaj Shaandilyaa and the writers would’ve been better off making a full-blown raunchy comedy for adults instead of this half-baked attempt at a “family-friendly” story about a missing sex tape. It’s crammed with contrived jokes and random twists, capped off with a moral lesson that feels completely out of place, like the weird Wakanda joke. Maybe watch Rajkummar Rao’s “Stree 2” instead or if you’re in the mood for a nostalgic retro offering, try Rao’s action-comedy series Guns & Gulaabs.
Rating: 3 on 10. “Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video” is on Netflix.
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