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Junglee Pictures’ Badhaai Do (UA) is the story of the marriage of a gay police inspector and a lesbian Physical Training (PT) teacher.
Shardul is a police officer in Dehradun and he is gay. Sumi (Bhumi Pednekar) is a PT teacher in a school in Dehradun. She is a lesbian. The two decide to get married so that they can put an end to the taunts and barbs of their respective family members, and can lead their lives with their respective partners while pretending to be a happily married couple. Tension begins when Shardul’s mother (Sheeba Chaddha) comes to stay with her son and daughter-in-law and prod them on to have a child. What happens when the truth about Shardul and Sumi dawns upon their families?
Akshat Ghildial and Suman Adhikary have written an unusual and rather bold story about a cross-gay couple’s marriage. The story is rather unique as one has not seen this kind of a story in any earlier film. The screenplay by Akshat Ghildial, Suman Adhikary and Harshavardhan Kulkarni is quite intelligently written. Having said that, it must be added that the point of the hero being gay and the heroine being a lesbian would be accepted by a section of the viewers but universal acceptance is ruled out. While the viewers of the big cities may accept the novelty in the subject, those in the smaller cities and towns would find it difficult to digest such a bold subject. Again, while the climax may find favour with the forward-thinking audiences, the others may not approve of it with an open mind.
What would be universally acceptable, however, are the comedy in the film and the realistic and relatable characters because of whom the comedy becomes earthy and real. Of course, it isn’t as if the drama is a laugh riot from the start till the end but it does have a good dose of funny and light moments. Some scenes of intimacy and suggestive sex between Sumi and her girlfriend and also between Shardul and his partner may be found to be repulsive by the orthodox audience. While the comic scenes are funny, the emotional drama before the climax does not have the desired impact for two reasons: one, it is not possible for the emotions to appeal universally; secondly, the emotional track is rather predictable. Also, the film is quite long and hence boredom does creep in at places. Akshat Ghildial’s dialogues are very nice and greatly add to the comic quotient.
Rajkumar Rao is marvellous as Shardul. He lives the role of the gay character who tries to give the impression that he’s straight. His acting, actions and dialogue delivery are all outstanding. Bhumi Pednekar lives the role of Sumi. She excels in the scenes in which she tries to give it back to Shardul when he bosses over her and in scenes when she is exasperated because of him. Chum Darang does a fair job as Rimjhim. Deepak Arora is so-so as Kabir. Seema Pahwa is first-rate as Shardul’s interfering aunt. Sheeba Chaddha performs wonderfully in the role of Shardul’s mother. Gulshan Devaiah is outstanding in a special appearance. Nitesh Pandey leaves a fine mark in the role of Sumi’s father. Loveleen Mishra has her moments as Sumi’s mother. Shashi Bhushan is superb as Shardul’s brother-in-law. Priyanka Charan is also very good in the role of Shardul’s sister. Nutan Sinha and Archana Patel provide good support as Shardul’s sisters. Abhay Joshi and Durga Sharma lend great credence to their characters of the DSP and his wife. Vyom Yadav makes his presence felt as Sumi’s younger brother. Nidhi Bhati (as Nazneen), Krishan Kumar (as the police constable), Chetan Dhawan (as Raju), Karuna Prakash (as Priya maasi), Babita Anand (as Priya maasi’s friend), Vidushi Manaduli (as Sumi’s friend) and Anurag Bhatt (as Sumi’s colleague) lend adequate support.
Harshavardhan Kulkarni’s direction is mature and sensitive. Although he has selected the topic which talks of same-sex relationships, he has refrained from making it repulsive by often using the suggestive technique rather than showing it all. His handling of comedy as well as emotional scenes is excellent. Music is entertaining. The title track (composed by Tanishk Bagchi) is already popular. Hum rang hai (by Amit Trivedi) is melodious. Bandi tot (by Ankit Tiwari) is very tuneful. Atak gaya, Gol gappa, Hum they seedhe saadhe (all three by Amit Trivedi) and Maange manzooriyaan (Khamosh Shah) are also well-tuned numbers. Varun Grover’s lyrics of the Hum rang hai song are excellent. Other lyrics (by Varun Grover, Anvita Dutt, Vayu, Azeem Shirazi and Anurag Bhomia) are also appealing. Vijay Ganguly’s choreography goes with the film’s mood. Hitesh Sonik’s background music is very nice. Swapnil S. Sonawane’s cinematography is of a fine standard. Laxmi Keluskar’s production designing is appropriate. Kirti Nakhwa’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Badhaai Do is a well-made bold and class-appealing film meant only for a few multiplexes and high-end single-screen cinemas in the big cities but it definitely does not have universal appeal because India is not yet prepared for such subjects in the mainstream film domain. Its casting (by Shiv Chauhan and Ashish Khare), sensitive handling, realistic characters and wonderful performances are its biggest plus points. However, its ultra-bold subject will greatly restrict its appeal.
Released on 11-2-’22 at Inox (daily 9 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Zee Studios. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark everywhere.