Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre : Drama
Year : 2022
Running time : 2 hours 27 minutes
Director : Harshvardhan Kulkarni
Cast : Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Chum Darang, Gulshan Devaiah, Seema Bhargava, Sheeba Chaddha, Nitish Pandey, Loveleen Mishra
Kid rating : PG-17
In 2018 there was Badhaai Ho with the versatile Ayushman Khurana. And now there is Badhaai Do. Both films are around family and strained familial relations but there the similarity ends. Am just as pleased with Badhaai Ho though because it brings a nuanced and forward-thinking perspective to the issues of LGBTQ folks.
Police inspector Shardul Thakur (Rajkummar Rao) meets Suman Singh (Bhumi Pednekar), a Physical Education teacher. Shardul is gay, and Sumi is a lesbian, and their families don’t know this. Harried by family demands to settle down, both decide to enter into a marriage of convenience. Sounds like a win-win – the families will be satisfied, and the two will have the freedom to live their lives they see fit. Or so they think.
The first half of the film introduces us to the meet-and-greet phase, the setup, the marriage etc. In the second half things start to unspool for Shardul and Sumi. What is it they say about best-laid plans?
I loved the fact that Badhaai Do is situated in small towns like Dehradoon and Haldwani. Its characters are people who’ve been brought up in these small towns where everyone knows everyone, and “log kya kahenge” is the mantra you live your life by. Shardul and Sumi’s families are no different – they want them to marry quickly and produce offspring even quicker – all of course while kow-towing to the great Indian sanskars.
I’m actually surprised and impressed with Badhaai Do. This is a film primarily about LGBTQ relationships and about how living in India as openly gay or lesbian is heavily frowned upon, despite the repeal of section 377. Director Harshvardhan Kulkarni takes a liberal, sympathetic view of Shardul and Sumi’s lives. He treats their problem as a human problem, portraying them as people first, with their hopes and aspirations and the need for love and acceptance. You feel for Shardul and Sumi – to have to twist and tangle their lives and live out a complicated lie just, just to appease society and it’s expectations!
The subject is heavy, but the treatment is sound. And presented with a dash of humor. Badhaai Do is fast-moving and lively, filled with familiar-looking characters and people like us. Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar are great in this film, as you knew they would be. The stellar supporting cast – Seema Bhargava as the unforgiving matriarch of Shardul’s family, Sheeba Chaddha as Shardul’s flaky mom, the lovely Chum Darang as Sumi’s girlfriend, the very debonair-looking Gulshan Davaiah as Advocate Guru Narayan, the moun-vrat-dhaari Loveleen Mishra as Sumi’s mom, Nitish Pandey as Sumi’s dad – make this film even better.
Badhaai Do works because it takes a serious issue and portrays it with heart and humor. Badhaai Do is a brave film; I wish there were many more like it.
Go watch!
Kidwise: Might need to be explained conceptually to kids, but generally palatable for older children.
