Review: Badhaai Do
Badhaai Do is another win for small-town stories, that takes two steps forward in terms of social significance. Written by Suman Adhikary, Akshay Ghildial, and director Harshvardhann Kulkarni, this film ticks several boxes in terms of representation: a lavender marriage, a desire to be parents, and an Arunachali partner.
Starring Rajkumar Rao as Shardul Thakur, a rough-n-tough well-chiseled cop, and Bhumi Pednekar as Suman Singh (Sumi), a physical education teacher, this film makes a commentary on lavender marriages - a marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of hiding homosexuality.
Set in the small towns of Haldwani and Dehradun, the families of both the characters want to hustle them into the idea of marriage. Shardul’s aunt (played by Seema Pahwa, who is now synonymous) and his mother (played by Sheeba Chaddha) are desperate to find a bride for him. Suman, too, is in a similar spot. Neither is interested in the opposite sex. They also cannot come out given the conservative milieu that they are part of. They find each other - Suman meets Shardul when she lodges a police complaint about a stalker and they decide to resort to a regular marriage as a means to get their families off their backs, while continuing to be who they really are, and live as room-mates.
The lavender marriage runs into complications when Sumi's newfound love, Rim Jhim (played by debutant Chum Darang), a pathology lab assistant, moves in with her. Keeping up the facade of being a happily married couple then becomes a major challenge, as parents, relatives, and nosy neighbors constantly have to be kept at bay.
Kulkarni has made use of a lot of close-ups and soft lighting in love scenes with Shardul and Sumi and their partners. He has even made the taking of a blood test romantic!
Debutant Chum Darang fabulously essays the role of Bhumi Pednekar’s lover.
What eventually got to me is the constant background score. In almost every scene, Kulkarni adds a background score, which is painfully generic. A song scores almost every scene or important function in the film, be it Shardul and Sumi’s wedding, their Goa honeymoon, Suman’s new relationship, Shardul’s new relationship, and even Rim Jhim moving in with them. In the end, the scores and the music, fail to push the film forward.
However, I must admit, Amit Trivedi’s ‘Hum Rang Hai’ that plays during the pride march in the film, almost moved me to tears. It talks about inclusion, and inclusion is always welcome.
The performances by Rajkumar and Bhumi are spectacular. Also watch out also for Shardul’s old mother, played by Sheeba Chaddha, who can easily convey emotions and actions without a dialogue, debutant Chum Darang as Suman’s girlfriend Rimjhim, and Nitesh Pandey as Suman’s father. Along with them, the film stars Loveleen Mishra and Gulshan Devaiah in supporting roles.
What didn’t work for me is the almost no acknowledgment given to Shardul and Suman as sexual beings. It’s almost as though the film is shy about the very people it sets out to humanize.
However, the film’s end is something beautiful. The fact that the characters of the family are still not okay with Shardul being gay, is something that is not seen regularly. Often in a regular setting, you would see all the family members accepting him and living ‘happily ever after’. This film does find a happily ever after, but with two princes and two princesses.
