In “Dadi Ki Shadi,” a heartwarming yet predictable Eid special on ARY Digital, a spirited grandmother orchestrates an elaborate charade to draw her scattered family back together. Dadi (Shamim Hilaly), a woman brimming with life, resorts to feigning illness to manipulate her estranged children into reuniting under her roof for Eid. Directed by Rao Ayaz and written by Omer Kazi, the film teases with the potential for deeper exploration but ultimately settles for a conventional narrative.

Dadi isn’t your typical frail elder. She’s active, energetic, and even capable of confronting robbers. However, her dynamism feels somewhat squandered as the story focuses more on convenient plot devices than nuanced character development. Her scheme, aided by her loyal butler Achan, involves a staged illness complete with an oxygen mask, designed to tug at the heartstrings of her bickering offspring. The ruse works; her son and daughter arrive promptly, carrying years of unresolved conflict.

The source of their animosity? A long-standing dispute over the family gold, sold by the son without his sister Anila’s consent. The film gestures towards this complex inheritance issue but resolves it with a simplistic solution: orchestrate a wedding. However, contrary to what the title might suggest, the wedding isn’t for Dadi. The prospect of her remarriage is briefly entertained for comedic effect but quickly dismissed, with Dadi herself reaffirming her loyalty to her late husband’s memory.

The impending nuptials belong to her grandchildren, Zara (Aleezay Shah) and (Ahmed Randhawa). Zara, a fashion student, initially appears to champion Dadi’s potential pursuit of love, even creating a matrimonial profile for her. This brief glimmer of progressive thinking is soon extinguished, as Zara’s involvement is revealed to be part of the initial scheme. The entire charade was simply a means to an end: reuniting the family.

Despite being the central figure, Dadi remains somewhat unexplored. Her loneliness, the catalyst for the entire plot, is acknowledged but never truly addressed. The film hints at themes of late-life autonomy and unresolved familial issues, but ultimately defaults to a safe, predictable conclusion. The family is reunited, a wedding takes place, and superficial harmony is restored, leaving the underlying issues largely untouched. “Dadi Ki Shadi” delivers a feel-good Eid celebration, but it could have been so much more.