When female characters in Bollywood flicks swear and dance on tables, it is usually as an aside or for the purpose of pure objectification. In the Veere Di Wedding trailer, we watch Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhasker, and Shikhla Talsania reject this mould. 

The all-star female ensemble swears with impunity, drinks with relish, and smokes an unknown substance for nobodies enjoyment but their own. While it comes off a little heavy-handed and forced, especially from Kareena, who seems like she’s trying to fit in with the cool kids, it is a refreshing rejection of the tropes usually assigned to women in Indian cinema.

The originality and indeed self-awareness of the film is furthered as it is set against the template of a normal wedding film, where a group of friends learn some life lessons and find love. There is no suggestion that the happy endings for these characters will involve a significant other, a powerful feminist statement indicating that women don’t need men to find fulfillment. 

It will be interesting to see how the trailer plays out on the big screen, especially after the dreaded censor-board certification. It is doubtful that heavyweights like Kareena and Sonam would sign up for a film like this if they felt that it would be heavily diluted by the censor board, and the ‘A’ rating does exist for a reason. It is important for a film like this to go through as unadulterated as possible in order to faithfully showcase this different side to female characters exactly how the creators wrote them, and the beloved actresses who portray them. 

I honestly don’t think this film looks that good- and that is another big reason why it is important for it to be shown without inhibition. Any censoring will force directors and producers to curtail such experiments in the future, instead of taking cues and pushing this rough genre toward greater quality.