In the movie industry, 60s is often called the golden era for some really path-breaking movies. Most notable among them, Guide, Jewel Thief, Woh Kaun Thi, Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam, Mughal-E-Azam and so on. And then we have the usual run of the mill family dramas like Shaadi.
Like every movie of this genre, we have an elder patriarch Ratan Malhotra (Balraj Sahni, spiffy performance, but then he's already done such roles dime a dozen]) and his wife Shanti (Sulochana, surprisingly solid, given most her roles are usually subdued). His happy household consists of his younger brother Ramesh (Dharmendra) and Gauri (Saira Banu). Ramesh marries Kala (Indrani), daughter of a rich, well placed judge. Gauri's marriage is fixed with the son Raja (Manoj Kumar) of greedy businessman Daulatram (Om Prakash). However due to unfortunate circumstances (a plane accident where he's lost his memory), Ramesh is unable to reach the wedding in time with the dowry money leading to Daulatram walking off immediately after culmination of the marriage rituals, with his son in the tow.
Raja and Gauri meet in Bombay where Gauri realizes that Raja is her husband and wanting to make it big on his own. Ratan and Shanti on the other hand end up in Bombay in search of Gauri and face an embittered Kala, who blames them for Ramesh's amnesiac state, insults them and throws them out of the house.
Ramesh recovers his memory and returns to his village only to realize that in his absence, his sister's wedding was called off due to lack of money and his older brother had to sell of their ancestral property to repay the loan. Holding Kala responsible, he separates and begins his search for his brother.
Raja makes it big as an actor, his father learns a lesson about importance of relationships over money. Raja - Gauri - Ramesh - Kala - Ratan - Shanti have a reunion. Everyone lives happily ever after.
Shaadi deserves 2 stars solely for the performances of its more seasoned actors aka Balraj Sahni and Sulochana. Their characters are a model of dignity and uprightness and they play them just right without going over the top on morality. Saira Banu and Dharamendra are a little raw, it being one of their earlier movies. Manoj Kumar, Indrani and Om Prakash are good.
The movie however is let down by its music. Only 2 songs stand out "Aaj Ki Raat Naya Chand Leke Aayi Hai" and "Ja Aur Kahin Ro Shehnai", the rest being strictly passable.
An OK watch if you want to hearken back to the golden era of cinema. Choti Behan scores much higher in the same genre.
