14 Phere review: Vikrant Massey, Kriti Kharbanda film is tiresome, mired in confusion

On paper, this tale about two lovers trying to bridge a seemingly unassailable caste-community divide must have felt like a solid idea. You want to take a film which tries to address one of the biggest evils which shamefully continues to bedevil Indian society seriously. But not when 14 Phere goes at it in a manner that recalls earnest college plays filled with novitiates playing to type.

The names are just right. Vikrant Massey is Sanjay Lal Singh. Kriti Kharbanda is Aditi Karwasra. Him a ‘Rajput’, her a ‘Jatni’ up against their families who revel in full Capulet/ Montague mode. You know the rest. His father (Vinit Singh) scowls. His mother (Yamini Das) wrings her ‘pallu’. Her father and brother are proud believers in the tradition of pouring petrol on rivals and striking a match. The phrase ‘honour killing’ is brought up. How will Aditi and Vikram unite?

Watch 14 Phere trailer here:

Bit characters come and go in this convoluted plot. Sanjay’s cousin does a nice job of a cocky young lad. Aditi’s brother is good at bluster. Gauahar Khan leaps off the screen, even in her limited, sadly unfleshed role. Some of the accents are spot on. But between the long-drawn, wholly preposterous idea of fake ‘baraatis’, and two ‘shaadis’ (therefore, ‘chaudah phere’, geddit), there’s just confusion. And the whole comes off as plain tiresome.