Itishri is an aspiring actress, Raghav runs a lively matrimony agency and Ved is an investment banker back from the UK, and their lives keep crossing. Around them, arranged-match customs collide with modern ideas of love and choice. The film follows all three as they sort through cultural expectation, family duty and what they actually want.
The Great Gujarati Matrimony wants to be more than a light comedy about arranged marriage. Director Preet, working from Jhanvi Chopda's script, threads together three people, Itishri the aspiring actress, Raghav the matrimony agency owner and Ved the UK investment banker, and uses their overlapping lives to poke at how a tradition-bound Gujarati family thinks about love, choice and reputation. Siddhi Idnani, known outside Gujarati cinema for The Kerala Story, anchors the younger half, while Hiten Kumar and Suchita Trivedi supply the older generation's weight.
When it works, the film reaches past the setup into friendship, unspoken feeling and the slow business of growing up, and the Ahmedabad backdrop and Siddharth Amit Bhavsar's songs give it a pleasant surface. The intent is genuinely warmer than the title suggests. The problem is focus. With three leads and a two and a half hour runtime, the story keeps splitting its attention, and reviewers were divided, with some finding it heartfelt and layered and others feeling the execution wandered and never tightened into a clear arc.
An IMDb average near seven reflects that split, an audience that mostly enjoyed it without being swept away. It is a decent, good-looking romantic drama with a likeable cast and a few real emotional pockets, held back by a screenplay that tries to carry too many threads at once. The film later found a second life streaming on Shemaroo's Gujarati platform, where its talky, relationship-heavy shape arguably plays better than it did across a long theatrical sitting. Watch it for Idnani and the ensemble if you like your romance talky and family-centred, and go in expecting a leisurely pace rather than a tight one.
Verdict
A warm, well-cast romantic drama that aims higher than its title but spreads itself thin. Pleasant and heartfelt in patches, baggy overall.
What works
- Likeable ensemble led by Siddhi Idnani
- Ambition beyond a simple marriage comedy
- Pleasant Ahmedabad setting and songs
- Some genuinely warm emotional beats
What holds it back
- Three-lead structure loses focus
- Two-and-a-half-hour runtime drags
- Screenplay never fully tightens
- Divided audience response
Cast & crew
Writers: Jhanvi Chopda
Music: Siddharth Amit Bhavsar
Cast: Hiten Kumar (Rustam), Mitra Gadhavi (Raghav), Siddhi Idnani (Itishri), Devarshi Shah (Ved), Suchita Trivedi (Rachana)
Producers: Divyesh Doshi, Jagat Gandhi
Watch the trailer
Play the official trailer on YouTubeMore Drama Gujarati films
Frequently asked
Is The Great Gujarati Matrimony worth watching?
A warm, well-cast romantic drama that aims higher than its title but spreads itself thin. Pleasant and heartfelt in patches, baggy overall. Kevu Che rates it 3 out of 5.
What is The Great Gujarati Matrimony about?
Itishri is an aspiring actress, Raghav runs a lively matrimony agency and Ved is an investment banker back from the UK, and their lives keep crossing. Around them, arranged-match customs collide with modern ideas of love and choice. The film follows all three as they sort through cultural expectation, family duty and what they actually want.
What is the IMDb rating of The Great Gujarati Matrimony?
The Great Gujarati Matrimony (2024) holds an IMDb rating of 6.8 out of 10.