Directed by the debutante Amit Roy, Running Shaadi is a film about a Bihari jobless man Ram Bharose (Amit Sadh) who zero-downs on creating a new website “Running Shaadi” which helps the couples to elope and helps them to run away. He gets assistance from his friend Cyber (Arsh) and money from Nimmi (Taapsee Pannu). But eventually Ram and Nimmi fall in love and tries to make their plan work by hook or by crook. The film couldn’t give a positive impression and it kept stretching itself for the whole 1 hour 55 minutes. The constant beeping of “.com” because it was removed at the last moment due to a controversy will definitely irritate you all the time. You will have some good moments in the film, but only in a few parts. Go to watch the film only if you are a fan of Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu’s acting.

The name of Runningshaadi.com was changed to Running Shaadi when a matrimonial site objected to the film’s title. The makers probably didn’t realise how much it would eventually hurt the film’s flow. It feels like a party pooper and ruins the viewer experience every time the word ‘.com’ is bleeped. But this isn’t the only flaw that dogs Running Shaadi. It was supposed to turn into a mad caper, but a clogged screenplay reduces it to an average fare with occasional comic relief. The best thing about Running Shaadi is that characters seem to rise above the boundaries of caste and creed. But the second half of the film gets bogged down by an influx of an army of actors with distinct traits. Led by Sinha Jee (Pankaj Jha), these actors talk in many dialects including Maithili, Bhojpuri and chaste Hindi. As parts of a well-knit Bihari society, they churn out some intriguing moments, but fail to do it seamlessly. Director Amit Roy may have unnecessarily stretched the film to 114 minutes. Running Shaadi has its moments, but they are too few to keep you engrossed.

Running Shaadi clearly has some very strange ideas about love and modernity. And stranger still when it comes to modern-day Patna, though at least that lends itself to the film’s few moments of genuine humour. But don’t get your hopes up. Running Shaadi goes about the website idea earnestly, before taking another bizarre tour, to Patna. If it is to introduce us to some delightful characters who could belong in a Dibakar Banerjee, we are not complaining. But how can you have a gem of a setting such as a girl being told to sing in front of her prospective in-laws, “anything”, because “kalakaar ko freedom chahiye,” and then let it all go to waste? That leaves only one reason to watch Running Shaadi – to see how filmmakers dealt with being told at the last minute to drop dotcom from its title because a certain website complained. Everytime the original title figures in the film, the lips are blurred out. It’s unsettling. Roy couldn’t have sent out a stronger message, even if unintended.

Growing up we've all heard of stories about couples running away and getting married. While we may not hear a lot about it recently, at least in big cities, in smaller towns it still is a phenomenon. Mix that with technology and you have Running Shaadi, where writer Navjot Gulati and director Amit Roy pen a tight little romcom. And it's not just about eloping. The egalitarian relationship that the leading pair share is commendable yet believable. Until the first half, the film convinces you about their absurd business concept. But it's in the second half when the film really takes off and takes you along for a joyride. The twists, albiet expected, are entertaining and the comedy is very relevant; there's always a chuckle around. The characters are believable and face realistic dilemmas in their lives. The story is funny and irreverent and the performances up to the mark. The music never gets in the way of the story and the length, at 1 hour 55 minutes is just right. While the constant beeping out of the .com at the end of the title is a tad irritating, you can let that slide considering the film was stuck in limbo for three years. While there may not be much of a Shaadi, there's definitely a lot of fun running around that you may want to check out.