Director: Saket Chaudhary

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Vidya Balan

Rating: 2.5 stars

The irreverent Farhan Akhtar and the sprightly Vidya Balan probably seem like a match made in heaven. They would have been too, if their respective Sid and Trisha were  etched-out better.

You get the setting from the trailer. A fun couple gets bogged down by domesticity after the birth of a baby girl. And it’s in their coping thereafter that a promising setting begins to falter.

Pre-child, the film is pretty breezy. Sid and Trisha role-play as married strangers at a club for the extra spice in their conjugal bliss. The spark gets a bit intense one night and Trisha finds herself holding a positive pregnancy test in her hand. After some debate and a last-minute change of heart, they decide to keep the baby. In fact, watch out for the scene where Sid roams around with a balloon belly in solidarity of his wife’s pregnancy. It is one of the funnier moments in the film.

Post-child, things predictably go downhill. Catering to popular stereotype, Trisha morphs into an anxious, child-rearing woman who quits a corporate career for full-time mothering. Sid clings further to his inner man-child by sneaking away for parties on the pretext of work.

This little secret is a ticking time-bomb and a recipe for disaster, at least in the lives of the characters. The film holds itself in much stronger stead, though does not match up to its predecessor.

Pyaar Ke Side Effects was a wry comment on relationship dynamics and thankfully steered clear of melodrama for the most part. The sequel gets sluggish in the second half with the ongoing histrionics between the onscreen duo. Not that it earns your sympathy. Their problems could be resolved through a simple heart-to-heart.

Shaadi Ke Side Effects also seems to have a skewed notion of parenting, where a good father is someone who grabs the most toys in an inane competition at a kiddie party. Thematically, this would work better for an insurance ad. The film also assumes that most parents spend their time talking about the bowel movements (and shape, and colour…) of their children. That’s when you’ll probably have to keep your popcorn away.

SKSE gets most of its freshness from Farhan Akhtar’s winning smile, a dash of ‘hatke’ treatment and a decent score (Pritam). But contrived, superficial portions take you back to an odd scene from a forgettable sitcom. Lack of chemistry between the leading couple doesn’t help either.

If only there was a side character as memorable as Ranvir Shorey’s ‘Nanu’ from the earlier film to take things up a few notches. Vir Das, Purab Kohli and Ila Arun have really half-baked, dull parts with no real contribution to the plot.

The final resolution of the plot seems a little ridiculous and eventually futile, given the initial drama. Still, there is enough happening to keep you sufficiently involved. SKSE is a passable, time-pass watch over the weekend if there is nothing good on TV and you aren’t up for reading. Maybe take your significant other along to watch someone else do the nagging for a change.