Badrinath Ki Dulhania begins in the town of Jhansi, where a young Badri is getting his photograph clicked for matrimonial purposes. He comes from a feudal family, where the father’s wish is seen as the final commandment. Badri is accompanied by his best friend, Somdev and it is at a marriage function that Badri falls in love at first sight with Vaidehi Trivedi. On one hand, Badri has passed matriculation and on the other, Vaidehi has her own aspirations to make a career for herself. Hence begins the love-story that navigates through various ups and downs, but very much like the title of the movie, will Badri be able to find her ‘dulhania’ in Vaidehi?
Buzz:
Badrinath Ki Dulhania is the second movie by Shashank Khaitan on the lines of the former romantic comedy, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014). The movie also carries a recreated hit song, Tamma Tamma, originally composed by Bappi Lahiri for Thanedaar (1990). This is the third movie after Student of The Year and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania to feature Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan together. The movie was extensively shot at various locations in Kota and Jhansi.
What To Anticipate:
Following the same theme and template, the director claims of bringing a fresh story to the screen, something different from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, but to be very true, the movie banks on the success of its former installment. Yes, the director has changed a few set-pieces and even brought the idea of feminism, but in bringing so, he even fails to tackle some of the issues.
The first half of the movie has its own share of comedy, where Dhawan leaves no stone unturned to look and act like no other than Salman Khan of Hum Apke Hain Kaun, while at the same time, with the ambitious girl streak, Alia Bhatt is no less than Madhuri Dixit. The accents carried by the Jhansi boy does falls flat in between, bringing the texture of Mumbai, but overall, both Alia and Varun have done a decent job. What works is their chemistry, though there are certain traits to these characters that could have been dealt with properly. The acting of supporting characters, especially that of Sahil Vaid is eye-pleasing.
The movie brings in big-bold social issues like discrimination against girl-child, the patriarchy and the dowry system in the first half, but at the same time Khaitan’s idea of turning an incident, where a male character is almost raped into an element of humor in the second half is seriously downgrading. Also, it’s high time that Bollywood should draw a line between romanticising a woman and not stalk or harass her. Also, we urge Bollywood to stop justifying the repulsive and violent actions of the male characters towards their female counterpart or for that matter their best friend (like in Raees). The movie also clearly turns the story in favor of Badri by simply providing Vaidehi with one bad deed. It’s in these moments, that the movie fails to entertain and sickens you.
The 30-minute charade in the second half of the movie, which shall give you a tour of Singapore is totally unnecessary. From the very beginning of the story or the very title of the movie, you know the ending and somehow hope for it to end soon. The ending of the movie fails to carry any substance, especially the big-bold social issues that it raised in the first half.
Trailer: