Badhaai Ho (2018) [Movie Review]
Dir: Amit Ravendranath Sharma
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena
Gupta, Gajraj Rao and Sanya Malhotra
Dur: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Comedy-Drama
Rating: 3/10
Rating: 3/10
Seriously! This was one Bollywood’s
biggest releases of this year! My word, and I could barely sit through it! This
was honestly one wasted outing.
Let me help me get an idea of what
went down. Basically, it’s a story about an ordinary middle-class Delhi family
who turn out to be extraordinary when the mother gets pregnant at an advanced
age and decides to keep the baby. That’s essentially what the story is about.
The drama surrounding such a strange occurrence and how the typical Indian
reaction of “log kya bolenge?” wreaks its havoc within the otherwise
undisturbed family.
The film seems to want to give you
the experience of the drama and how it unfolds in a typical way, not in the
filmy version. Perhaps, that does not sit well with everyone like myself, for
example. The characters aren’t very well developed. In my analysis, too much
importance is given to the character of Ayushmann.
The whole film rotates around him which is neither appropriate to the story nor
to the intention. However, it appears to have worked when one looks at the box
office results. Neena is the real star with her masterful performance as an
archetypal mother. Gajraj, who plays the father, seems to be the character for
comic-relief, something he executes with finesse and with more than a funny
face. Mention must also be made of Surekha, who plays the archaic
grandmother/mother-in-law role and who is a far better and decisive character
than Ayushmann’s. Shardul Rana plays Ayushmann’s younger brother and seems so
desperately out-of-place throughout the whole drama. Sanya Malhotra shines in
her role as Ayushmann’s love interest and in a rare case, she isn’t objectified
at all throughout the film, save at the item song in the credits.
The film had a great concept and
from the looks of it, it did a fairly good job getting across an important
message to cinema viewers. Life is a precious gift and there is no shame in
welcoming that gift at any time. Love and life must prevail over the “log kya kahenge?”
mindset. The mindset itself is called into question and its high time, the
educated Indian work towards getting rid of it altogether. The film sustains
its drama throughout, which is worth appreciating however, the drama was quite
dry and began to feel tedious. While I appreciated the message of the film, I
don’t think it was really worth all that ticket money.
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