All hail the rebel bride!

While Katrina Kaif’s fab-abs might be the show stealer in the latest Bollywood dance hit ‘Kaala Chashma’, it’s actually the Kaala Chashma that piques my curiosity. Of course it makes sense that both Kaif and Siddharth Malhotra, are wearing black sunnies, in a song, whose title quite literally translates into ‘Black glasses’.
But ‘Kaala Chashma’ the song, is also a good reference for the growing trend of light hearted rebel bride behaviours, which have become quite popular among a section of hyper-urban, educated Indians. 
Gone are the days of the blushing bride.  

The anti-bride is out to have a good time at her wedding. 
So whether it is funky pictures, with posing stylishly with glares often in the mix, tequila shots before the big ceremony or breaking into an unexpected little jig when walking towards the desi altar, this bride is out to break a few rules. 
In essence, the modern urban desi bride is owning it at her wedding.
This is also evident in short wedding videos, which have become quite the thing. Brief interviews with the bride and the groom play a customary part in these. And more often than not the bride is sharp as a tack, often quite chilled out and always speaks well.  
But why is this trend happening?  
There are a few guesses. 
For one, the average age of the bride itself, among the urban educated, seems to have risen in the past decade or so. A lot of highly eligible men and women are increasingly getting married later. Focus on education and increasing number of opportunities for career advancement very early on in life could be the driver for this. The bride isn’t anymore someone who has always lived in her parents’ house and is now going to live with her husband’s family. 
In fact, chances are, that both the bride and the groom have lived on their own (or together, or both) either while getting educated or working in different cities/countries. Also, second marriages are becoming quite common. And many people are quite happy having a big fat desi wedding the second time around as well. As a result, the bride and groom project a degree of confidence and maturity that is not possible to have in earlier years. 
This combination of life experience, independence and making one’s own choices is showing up in more than just attitudes, it is showing up in wedding practices as well. It is quite likely that brides are organising their wedding from the functions to the financing. Dependence on family to arrange everything could be waning as a result.
Also, the wedding has come a long way in the past few years. The regular rituals are of course there, but there is also an increasing degree of innovation to the wedding functions themselves. This could range from toasts to the bride and groom by the family, earlier a strictly western tradition, to wild bachelorette parties and super coordinated dance sequences at cocktail events. The bride and groom, or their peers, are quite likely the ones suggesting these new events.
Therefore, the younger generations, particularly the bride and groom are better placed to take up the organisation of these new practice. Needless to say, this can give an additional sense of ownership to the ones getting married. And, hey, if you are the one throwing the whole wedding party, you, of all people should be having a good time!
In essence, therefore, the Kaala Chashma trend can be seen as symbolic of bridal independence. 
Can we just say, all hail the rebel bride!