Pawan(Ali Fazal) & Shahana (Angira Dhar) are to wed soon & their families have been invited to meet each other for the first time, except unlike any other 'Indian Pre-Marriage Ritual' the parents are only meeting, for the first time, 2~3 days before their marriage.
Slick writing, beautiful shot taking (actually very intelligent cinematography) and some nostalgic Band Bajaa Baraat songs engulf you from the very first episode of this series. The only sad part is it that the episodes are small, almost making my statement like an oxymoron; what I mean is that every viewer whose seen the series will want it to not get over, will want more layers unfold off of every character. Will want to know more about each person's background (which btw Anand Tiwari, Amrit & Sumeet Vyas - the three writers have tried to achieve) but with every format of storytelling comes a set of set parameters, which they have to had to abide by.
The series cuts off of its original location, of that of the wedding hotel and moves out to show us how the protagonists met & let me not spoil it for you, because their medium of having met is like a mirror pointed in the faces of our generations.
The parents of each of the protagonists are pivotal. Their performances are spellbound(shouting out loud proving that they are experienced actors). Ayehsa Raza & Gajraj Rao play Ali's parents and tell a tale of the small town parents and their set norms and protocols while Rajit Kapoor & Shenaaz Patel play the parents of Angira Dhar and show us what it is like to have a merger via marriage between the small town and metropolitan (via their parents attitudes) folks.
Neil Bhooplan(Dhulan ki maa ka boyfriend) and Preetika Chawla (Dulhe ki behen) are talents that could have been used well and seem wasted.
A BGM, which is that of a movie which already has pre-set norms and notions in our heads sometimes becomes a hindrance in making new connections. I mean I have to try really hard to not associate the cuteness and innocence of Angira with Anushka (from Band Bajaa Baraat) and the trass language and being a complete desi of Ali with Ranveer (of the same movie).
Bang Bajaa Baraat makes you wait for the last episode like any popular American SITCOM. It makes you realize how its (with much subtlety) a spoof of a Yash raj Film which celebrated the relationships of a couple that organizes and makes weddings happen. It shows you something different with the same melodrama. A guy and a girl after having fought, go to their parents to talk; except unlike the norm, the guy talks to the father and the girl to the mother.
Anand Tiwari shows up in a special appearance; but what he gives us is a special Web Series, unlike any other thats come out in India. Season 2 is awaited more than anything now.
