Badhaai Do

An amazing fun movie, that despite its entertainment factor, also educates. Gear performances and excellent direction. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and highly recommend that you watch it.

This is one of the better groundbreaking LGBTQ movies to come out of India, a country still hobbled by strict cultural mores and taboos. It starts off slowly and with all the hallmarks of a French Farce that discourages the viewer from taking it seriously. However, as it develops, the concept takes shape and the message becomes clearer. Unfortunately, the drama piece becomes overshadowed by weak attempts at comedy which does not translate well, and the overuse of songs and silly noises in the soundtrack proves distracting. The on-screen relationships do not come across as real, but this is to avoid censorship one would imagine. The movie is well acted and for the most part, the characters are believable. Overall, it is entertaining and has just the right amount of pathos towards the end.

This young cop ( Rajkummar) is gay but keeps it under wraps because he doesn't know how to tell his family. (Under a normal casting this role would have gone to Ayushmann but that is not an issue). The young lady ( Bhumi) is a lesbian and has also kept it a secret from her folks. Both belong to a middle class orthodox family of heartland India and both are under pressure to get married because they are 30 plus years. Both meet and on an impulse they decide to solve their problem by getting married to each other to keep the family off their backs. They don't realise that their problems have just begun. As they settle down he gets his boyfriend home and she gets her girlfriend home and then the quarrels start. Also since Bhumi does not conceive even after an year, Rajkummar's family members start their pressure tactics. This leads to a number of embarrassing situations for the odd couple.

The movie narrative moves on a fairly good pace and does not have many scenes eliciting laughs but the realistic acting of both Rajkummar and Bhumi makes things interesting. Later the story deals with the serious aspects of a lavender marriage and does offer a solution in the end.

Director Harshavardhan Kulkari has made a loveable and convincing movie tackling an unconventional story idea. Both Rajkummar and Bhumi have acted admirably. Worthy of appreciation are the realistic expressions they have given in the scenes. Good support comes from Seema Pahwa and Sheeba Chaddha.

The lead actors in this movie are Rajkumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar are considered as the best natural actors of bollywood, needs no comment on their acting. They always give their best and are always best. Anotherfemale actor in lead role is Chum Darang from Arunachal Pradesh has acted very well. Though not a very big role but her impact is very strong. The trailer of the movie already revealed that it is about LGBT community...but it is presented in the movie in a very fresh and new way. It has a message for everyone that we should understand and respect the LGBT community. We should understand that this is very natural and should be accepted by our society. This movie is also about "lavender marriage"...where two homosexual people agree to marry each other so that they can live in society peacefully. Overall a very good movie with very strong message for all. The only drawback is that it is stretched a little otherwise its a complete entertainer with so many good comedy timings.

Badhaai Do is a lovely film that breaks the stereotypes in a beautiful heartwarming way. It is sweet, funny and sensitive all at once. Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar are such a delight to watch. Both the actors show their prowess yet again. Watch out for the scene where Rajkummar breaks down. It is one of the finest moments in cinema in recent times. Amit Trivedi delivers some gorgeous tunes.