22 December,2023 04:40 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Vidya Balan, Konkona Sensharma and Tanishaa Mukerji at the special scereening
Prime Video today announced Wedding.con, a true-crime Original docuseries, accompanied by a thought-provoking trailer. A BBC Studios India Production and directed by Tanuja Chandra, Wedding.con is a detailed, eye-opening, and compelling narrative chronicling the experiences of five women in their pursuit of love and companionship. Their quest takes an unexpected turn, plunging them into an unimaginable web of deception and betrayal.
Wedding.con is set to premiere exclusively on Prime Video on December 29 in Hindi with subtitles in English. This true-crime documentary series intimately follows the stories of five women as they embark on the journey to fulfil their dream of a happy marriage. However, their search for the perfect life partner takes a distressing turn as they fall victim to financial and emotional exploitation by conmen. These imposters, assuming fake identities and posing as suitable grooms on online platforms, leave the women betrayed. Emphasising the need to raise awareness and take action against such scams, the five-part docuseries sheds light on the vulnerability of women who, in their pursuit of companionship, become easy, unsuspecting targets of deceitful schemes.
Aparna Purohit, head of Originals, India and Southeast Asia, Prime Video, said, "Through its poignant documentation of real-life experiences, the series not only serves as a cautionary tale but also aims to inform and educate viewers about online matrimonial fraud, which turns out to be one of the most under-reported crimes. The issue remains shrouded in shame and stigma, making it crucial to shed light on. We are delighted to have partnered with BBC Studios India Production and Tanuja Chandra whose vision resonated strongly with ours, and we are certain that viewers will find this docuseries engrossing and at the same time, eye-opening."
"In India and other South Asian cultures, it's widely believed that marriage is the most significant milestone in a woman's life, and the pressure to 'settle down' keeps mounting as she grows older," said director Tanuja Chandra. "In fact, by the time she's 35, she's told the ship has long sailed. Wedding.con is the tale of five women who were victims of matrimonial fraud, but are now survivors and have shown tremendous courage in recounting their experience, to expose these scams. When BBC Studios brought this project to me, it was an eye-opener and I am grateful to these incredible women and Prime Video for passionately supporting my vision to bring this docuseries to life. It makes me very hopeful that this series reaching out to a wide audience when it streams on Prime Video in India and across the world, will help in saving women from being duped in the future."
The creators of the show hosted an exclusive all-women screening for the show. Actors such as Vidya Balan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Gauahar Khan, Bhumika Chawla, Renuka Shahane, Ayesha Jhulka, Shahana Goswami, Pooja Bhatt, Tanisha Mukherjee, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Maanvi Gagroo, Sumona Chakravarti, were among those who attended.
