Bala

Amar Kaushik's second venture, Bala (given Hindi pet name; hair connotation), is a solidly made comedy drama that commentates about the critical social stigmas currently plaguing the country (and the world) and uses the perfect possible container to deliver it, by centralizing itself around a young balding self-conscious bachelor (Ayushmann Khurrana) from a city in Uttar Paradesh, and providing enough entertainment to sit back and relax but still uses a formulaic approach that dampens the enjoyment and which is, however, second only to the horrendous, unbearable makeup work (on Bhumi Pednekar) involved in it. TN.

Bala - Kudos to Ayushman Khurana for doing it again. He seems to slide into roles that other mainstream actors would cringe at, with such fluency that mirrors reality, and Bala is yet another proof of his diverse talent. Bala (Ayushman), the young stud boy in school whose mane was his pride suffers from premature baldness, and this becomes the central issue of his life. He has to address the problem at any cost, but his inability to control the gradual decay throws his life into a disarray first, and then he descends into embarrassment. Unable to come to terms with the situation, he tries scores of remedies until he finds a solution that will give him enough solace to find the love of his life.

Without further going into the story it's pertinent to mention that Bala is a fantastic narrative of self pity and the process of coming to terms with the reality. The social stigmas associated with premature balding and being dark toned are still a matter of reality and the embarrassment or self pity is a result of shying away from accepting oneself for what he or she is. Director Amar Kaushik allows the problem and the eventual catharsis to slowly but steadily unfold, mostly using humour as a medium that keeps the proceedings light hearted. The purge is a poignant essay by Ayushman and Bhoomi Pednekar, both of whom give firecracker performances, whilst being ably supported by the extraordinary talent pool of Abhishek Banerjee, Javed Jaffrey, Saurabh Shukla and Seema Pahwa. Bala fills you with warmth and wisdom, and may at times seem to drag a little, but you won't mind it as it's not a caricatured treatment of premature balding or a comic take on it, but an in-depth psychoanalysis of a sufferer.

A feel-good comedy that tackles premature hair loss.

Ayushmann as a bald man, who struggles to get a girl due to the defect. Every girl he tries to impress rejects him as soon as they see his head. He also faces a lot of embarrassment and humiliation on a daily basis.

Finally, his father gifts him a wig, following which he is able to impress a very pretty girl, played by Yami Gautam. However, he soon realises that wig cannot be a permanent solution, and hence, the drama continues.

Bala is a feel-good, highly entertaining movie that will definitely make you laugh out loud.

Though the message of self-acceptance and being comfortable in your own skin is something that dosnt come through convincingly.

But one thing is guaranteed - you will walk out of the theatre with a smile on your face.

Aayushman khurana has been delivering movies on social issues and has been nailing those roles again and again. Bala too, will be considered as one of his finest performance because he potrays the emotions so nicely that even though you laugh at some scenes, you still feel sad for him. The supporting cast also nails and fit perfectly in there roles. The UP accent, family drama, all these things make you believe that indeed you are in kanpur. Yami Gautam also has been given some good scenes and has played her role nicely. Just one problem with the film was the casting of bhumi pednekar. The make up done on her is really distracting whenever she comes in screen and also just opposes to the social message that the film wants to deliver. Still you ignore this because of the way Bhumi played the character of Latika and you feel for her from the first scene itself. Constantly entertaining and not even a single dull moment ! Go for it !!

A must watch. Excellent screenplay and storyline. Well done to the makers of this film.