'Badhaai Ho': An Unpretentious Family Entertainer!
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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark
"Whether your pregnancy was meticulously planned, medically coaxed, or happened by surprise, one thing is certain - your life will never be the same" -- Catherine Jones
Amit Ravindernath Sharma's film 'Badhaai Ho' needs a huge 'Badhaai Ho' greetings for its highly relatable and entertaining middle-class family drama. It is not only a full-on entertainer but also a very touching movie that taps on your head to stop being hypocrite and conservative.
Bollywood is dishing out superb content-driven films off late, and I must say that 'Badhaai Ho' is one among the best that got released in recent times. The writers of the film - Shanatanu Srivastava, Akshat Ghildial (he is also the screenplay writer) and Jyoti Kapoor- have etched out each and every character and their dialogues so realistically well that within a few minutes of the movie as an audience you are glued within the family and it's hard to move out even when the end credit lines start rolling on screen.
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| Image Courtesy: peepingmoon.com |
'Badhaai Ho' is about an Indian Northern Railway Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) Jeetender Kaushik and his family. The middle-aged Jitender Kaushik (Gajraj Rao) and his wife Priyamvada played by Neena Gupta didn't even imagine in their wildest dream that reading out a romantic poem written by Mr Kaushik, which got published in a local magazine, on a rainy night with their bedroom door tightly and safely latched would lead to a equally pleasant and shocking situation after fifteen weeks of their life. A tricky situation that had the potential to rock their otherwise smooth sailing family boat comprising of Kaushik's old mother (Sureka Sikri), a young son Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana) who works in an IT firm and a school going teenager Gullar (Shardul Rana) who is enjoying the outside world and is curious to know about life and its pleasures.
What follows is hilarious, emotional and eventful that give much ammo to the storytelling of "Badhaai Ho'. The embarrassment of a middle-aged couple who are, perplexed and in dilemma about announcing about the unexpected pregnancy to two young sons and an ageing granny of their children in a closely-knit middle-class colony is well portrayed.
The real stars of the movie are Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta both bankable actors in their own capacities. Neena Gupta as a wife, daughter-in-law who is constantly bickered by her mother-in-law and as a mother is excellent. She is at her best and is commendably natural. Ayushmann Khurrana as Nakul and Sanya Malhotra as Renee Sharma are paired well. They complement each other well in their roles. Sheeba Chaddha as Renne's mother portrays an upper-middle-class single mother apparently progressive who gives the liberty to her daughter to discuss anything under the sun. Her character as Sangeeta Sharma unmasks the conservative and judgmental personality we hide within our self-projected progressive beings when it comes to dealing with situations that rock the so-called equilibrium of a society and its untold norms.
What irks us as an audience about the film is the mixed accent of the characters used inconsistently like Punjabi, Haryanvi, Hindi and the colloquial expressions. Nevertheless, this can be overlooked and doesn't bother much after some time because of the actors and the storyline.
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| Image Courtesy: zeenews.india.com |
Music by Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli and Jam8 is full of life and is celebratory. The singers Ayushmann, Guru Randhawa, Dev Negi, Jordan, Brijesh Shandilya, Romy and Neha Kakkar are bang on. Ayushmann Khurrana's song 'Nain Na Jodeen' is soulful and hummable. Sanu Varghese, the cinematographer has done a wonderful job. Dev Rao Jaddhav deserves a special mention for his wonderful editing which keeps the movie crisp and leaves the audience at the end wanting for more.
In short, Life isn't full of surprises as people often say, I feel the contrary, it is we who surprises life with our reactions, responses and actions. Life had been always the same freely flowing undeterred naturally brushing the banks of reality and fantasy, it is we human that get colored by our lenses and fail to understand and savour the beauty of life and its twists and turns. So, go and watch 'Badhaai Ho' and greet yourself and everyone else in your life "Badhaai Ho' for all those things that surprise you and others pleasantly and even unpleasantly.
Life Connoisseur Movie Rating: 4/5
Cast: Gajraj Rao (Jeetender Kaushik), Neena Gupta (Priyamvada Kaushik), Ayushmann Khurrana (Nakul), Shardul Rana (Gullar), Sanya Malhotra (Renee), Dadi (Sureka Sikri), Sheeba Chaddha (Sangeeta Sharma), Rahul Tewari (Junaa)
Genre: Comedy Drama
Director: Amit Ravindernath Sharma
Producers: Vineet Jain, Aleya Sen, Hemant Bhandari, Amit Ravindernath Sharma, Sushil Choudhury, Priti Sahani
Written by: Shanatanu Srivastava, Akshat Gildial, Jyoti Kapoor
Screenplay: Akshat Gildial
Music by: Tanishk Bagchi, Rochal Kohli, Jam8
Background Score: Abhishek Arora
Cinematography: Sanu Varghese
Edited by: Dev Rao Jadhav
Production Company: Junglee Pictures, Chrome Pictures
Distributor: AA Films
Release Date: 18 October 2018
Duration: 123 Minutes
Language: Hindi
