Badhaai Ho - Film Review

#BadhaaiHo

The life and times of a typical Delhi-based middle-class family forms the back-drop of this enjoyable (mostly-)comedy. A comedy that arises from an event that is such an antithesis of a supposed lifestyle of a middle-class family, that it becomes the base for the entire plot.

The strength of this film comes from this one idea. That a conventional 50-something housewife conceives unexpectedly, amidst a mundane life that revolves around her daily duties of running the home and taking care of all members of the family (a husband, 2 young sons, and a crabby mother-in-law). And the emotional chaos and the multiple dramas that happen as a result.

In fact, that's pretty much the entire story. How everybody reacts to the news (mostly negatively) - the sons, the mother-in-law, the neighbours, the extended family, the son’s girlfriend, the son’s girl friend’s mother, the son’s friends. And then after some time, how everybody comes around to the fact that it’s completely normal and then reacts mostly positively.

Ayushmann Khurrana as Nakul Kaushik, again delivers a really good performance, being the central character, through which the entire story is told. Gajraj Rao (of Tech Conversations with my Dad fame), as the father Jeetu Kaushik gives a brilliant performance as an un-patriarchal head of the family, being both gentle with his family and still-in-love with his wife. Neena Gupta, as the mother Priyamvada Kaushik, also does a great job portraying a strong and silent woman, who’s self-effacing personality becomes a powerful contrast for the impact that her pregnancy has on everyone around her. Who thought she could be the one to shake up the entire system, that is held together by such fragile and meaningless rules and norms. And finally, Surekha Sikri as the dadi, does a brilliant role of a crabby traditional mother-in-law, whose primary job is to criticise the bahu and generally complain about everything and everyone.

Apart from the hilariousness of the different conversations that happen between different characters because of the situation, the movie is also impactful because it challenges stereotypes. It encourages us to be open-minded and tolerant of the different people that live around us, respecting the choices they make, whether we agree with them or not. Who’s to say what’s the right way to live one’s life? And who are we to judge others? The film reminds us to not put people in boxes. In a country with one of the largest youth populations in the world, it challenges perhaps one of the biggest biases we live with, in our country - the young vs. old bias. Old does not mean a road to ‘sanyaas ashram’. As long as we are alive, we are all human beings, with emotions, needs, desires and failings. What defines us is not our age, but the choices we make at our age. And the people that love us are the people that accept these choices and accept the life that comes as a result of these choices.

Where the film is weak, however, is the lack of a more defined storyline. It felt like the writers had this central idea and then they weaved everything around it. The narrative doesn’t move forward in a sense of what happens next. It just stays at this big event and things happening around it. The entire plot becomes about first showing the social conflict that is created by the late pregnancy and then the resolution of this conflict among the different characters. And while that’s perfectly enjoyable, it leaves you a little wanting for more.

The other area where the film had more potential was in building the different characters both inside the middle class society (like the younger teenage brother, Gullar and Nakul’s boisterous friends) as well as outside the middle class society (like Nakul’s girlfriend Renee, played by Sanya Malhotra of Dangal and her mother played by Sheeba Chaddha ). The film does try in building these characters through several scenes actually (like Gullar’s school fight with the bully, or Renee’s talk with Nakul or her talk with her mother), but because every scene becomes about the shocking unexpected pregnancy, there is no further aspect of the character that is built. And it’s not helped by a completely lacklustre presence (a non-performance) of Sanya Malhotra as the girlfriend, who actually has a pretty central role. Opportunity loss here.

But all in all, an enjoyable film with lots of laughter, in a surprising situation, with some great performances. Another feather in the cap for Bollywood in a year that is fast becoming one to remember for the most diverse set of movies, with completely unique plots and storylines. Once again a loud cheer for Bollywood 2018.