Badhaai Do (2022) :
Movie Review -
Our Hindi audience is somewhat becoming accustomed to taboo-breaking films, though not fully. It's been almost a decade now that Bollywood filmmakers have been trying something out of the box and touching on taboo subjects. Ayushmann Khurrana is doing great there, but let's not forget others. Kindly remember that Rajkummar Rao is there too. His "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga" with Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor broke the silence on lesbian girls' issues, and his gay-driven "Aligarh" starring Manoj Bajpayee left us stunned. "Lavender Marriage" is one such theme that hasn't been attempted before, and now Rajkummar Rao is here to take that responsibility. While most of the taboo-breaking films, actually all the films, end with the acceptance of identity, Badhaai Do begins with it and then goes far ahead. The concept helps a lot because you are not trying to hide the secret from the audience; rather, you get to know it early, right at the beginning, and then start riding with it until you accept the reality. All of the previous films ended with either a marriage or the acceptance of LGBT people, but did any of them ever attempt to show what happens next?
Let's just say a bisexual couple gets married. What about life after marriage? What about their parenthood, which isn't possible for them? No film ever attempted these things, and that's where Badhaai Do scores high marks. The film is about Shardul, a cop and a gay man, who marries a lesbian girl, Suman. They don't reveal their sexual identity to their families and continue living as a decorated couple while they continue their own sexual affairs with their partners. So naturally, after a year or so, the family members start pushing them towards parenthood, and then chaos ensues. The screenplay for Badhaai Ho needed a lot of trimming. The entire thing moves slowly, dumping you into boredom most of the time. Even the comedy isn't as hilarious as you expected it to be. I don't know why, but Rajkummar Rao has made his image in the comedy genre too, so you ask more of him, but humanly, it's not possible every time. Badhaai Do falls into such a genre where even making a fine comedy is a difficult job-ultimately hurting the massy humour. One thing is certain: it's not a film that the masses can enjoy and understand. These topics are still taboo and can't be watched by the family audience. Moreover, it's coming on Valentine's weekend, making it more appealing to couples. Those who belong to the LGBT community can cherish this Valentine's Day special experience forever.
To incorporate the additional metaphor into the character, we see Rajkummar Rao playing a macho guy who has sexy physics. The same thing that Ayushmann Khurrana did in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui because to break the taboos, you need special characters so that more people can relate to it. Honestly, Rajkummar is losing his grip. The same guy who gave outstanding performances in Shahid, CityLights, Trapped, and Newton to raise his bar higher than what we expected is now reducing his own greatness. He looks damn sexy, I must say, and even though the performance is decent, it's not up to his own high standards. On the other hand, Bhumi gets into a challenging zone again after "Saand Ki Aankh." She plays a lesbian girl with conviction and doesn't shy away from the uncompromised characteristics of the role. In the supporting roles, Seema Pahwa and Sheeba Chaddha are fabulous. They leave an impact despite the less screen space and have got a couple of hysterically funny scenes. Chum Darang's accent sounds terrible, but her performance recovers the loss. Loveleen Mishra and Nitesh Pandey make sure you enjoy every gag when they are on screen.
Badhaai Do has too many songs, unnecessarily. The album by Amit Trivedi, Tanishk Bagchi, Ankit Tiwari, and Khamosh Singh has a lot of content for couples, but the normal audience is looking for something else. Nevertheless, for a one-time viewing, it's okay. The dialogues have some humour attached to them, but they don't generate any organic laughs. Harshavardhan Kulkarni's direction in Hunterrr was fascinating because he used all the realistic theories to describe his characters, whereas in Badhaai Do, he uses nothing but multiple cliches. He's not at great fault because we have been through almost everything that can be brought by taboo-breaking films. Now, it's just a matter of humour and storytelling. Otherwise, you are smart enough to predict the story. Overall, Badhaai Do is a gutsy attempt that tries to shatter all the insights of problems faced by the LGBT community, from hiding their own identity to marriage to never-told-before parenthood, but is hurt by its slow pace.
RATING - 5/10*
