Badhai Do

Badhaai Do (2022)

Co-written and Directed by: Harshavardhan Kulkarni
Written by: Suman Adhikari, Akshat Ghildial

Streaming on Netflix. 

To be honest, I wasn't even excited to watch this film because the trailer made it seem like just another film with a premise about a social taboo - which Bollywood has done a lot by now. But the film was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed watching it. The writing of the film is solid - especially when you zoom into the film and take each scene in particular. The way they open up scenes are very interesting - something as simple as how they reveal Bhumi. We see a hand swiping through profiles of women and we assume it'd be a man, we see that it's Bhumi. Also the scene where Shardul's mom sees Sumi and Rimjhim together - the way it's staged and blocked is beautiful. Like this, I felt in a lot of scenes that the scenes were opened and closed in a really good way. The film also works on a human level - especially Shardul's heartbreak with Kabir - it was beautiful. You need not be gay to relate to that. You relate to it like it's a heartbreak to a person. In spite of the relationships being universal, they also bring in the nuances of a homosexual relationship. 

When you zoom out a little, it's impossible for a film like to have a happy resolution like a Badhaai Ho did, because acceptance is a really long shot even now. I liked how they staged a parade scene, and how they create a dramatic moment when Shardul wears the mask. I absolutely loved the track of Sumi and her father - again, it works on a human level. One of the tracks I felt could've been taken out was the entire play of Shardul and Sumi trying to delay Shardul's mom's visit to hide Rimjhim. Apart from this one track, I liked the other tracks which were playing with comedy of errors. Raj and Bhumi did a beautiful job of bringing in the vulnerability, especially Raj because Shardul is an alpha guy otherwise. I also liked the casting choices of Rimjhim and Kabir, because subconsciously it becomes easier to accept faces which seem a little unfamiliar, and that was a very clever move. I was wondering why they cast Gulshan in the ending part. But all in all, I really enjoyed this film.