Band Baaja Baaraat

Shruti! I had a crush on Anushka Sharma after watching this movie. At those time, we 90s kids, had a lot of time in the world to do anything we want. So we didn't use to leave any movie. I clearly remember watching this movie. Throughout the movie, I had this thought that this is a great movie, a fantastic movie, one of the best movies, as people suggested to us earlier. With that thinking, I went on enjoying the movie. There were plenty of good moments in the film, which were very exciting. I rather enjoyed it for the first time. However, when I watched it for the second time, after several years, I couldn't bare at all. Everything was ultra boring. Very much average. I had a thought that at the age of 15 I rather liked it because I never had an experience of watching wedding movies. It actually bored me to a great extent. Also, there was hell a lot of drama in the movie. Even Shruti created some at times. Yes, my crush at some point. After a few more years: I watched Made in Heaven web series. It is the much-evolved, more erotic, more wild, more enthusiastic, highly more creative part of this movie. They have the same work and the same genre too - Wedding genre. But Made in Heaven stands at a way different level. I literally watched it twice without any regret. Why I'm mentioning it is I felt it is the better and bigger version of Band Baaja Baarat. BBB had bittu and Shruti, made in heaven has a highly bigger team. PS: I'm not from primevideo or Madeinheaven team. Just sharing my experience. Yes, I kinda hate this movie now.

There are times when you like predictability in a film and you actually look forward to it. You know exactly how the story will unfold and that there will be no dramatic twists and turns and distressing suspense. You still manage to enjoy whatever is going on. JAB WE MET (JWM) was a similar movie. The moment hero heroine meet, you know that they will end up falling in love even if they are not romantically interested in each other.

BAND BAAJA BARAT (B3) is also a similar tale of two youngster and it's not surprising to see that it's doing wonderfully well with its target audience. The box office collections only dropped 10% in the second week against the industry average of 65% this year. JWM actually had higher collections in the second week of its release and in some centers B3 has higher collections than first week. Things might change with the release of TEES MAAR KHAN though. Coming back to the movie, the first surprise was a house full theater on the second weekend of release. The only seat I could manage to get was in the first row and I had to watch the entire movie with my neck looking up at 80 degrees angle. Precisely why I won't be able to write much about cinematography because every shot from that seat was a low-angle shot.

B3 is a romantic comedy, which is not a genre which I usually enjoy especially after going through the agonizing experience of watching I HATE LUV STORYS. When I watched the promos of B3, I had a feeling that it will be on the same lines especially when I do not have much respect for Anushka Sharma. I still decided to watch it based on some positive reviews I read.

It was a good experience. It's a refreshing and highly entertaining outing. It's not the award winning effort but it delivers on the promise of keeping you interested till the end. Mainly, it's the directorial treatment of Manesh Sharma which has made a simple story worth watching. Slightly inspired by THE WEDDING PLANNER as far as central idea goes, it's original and genuine. A lot of attention has been paid to detail, from art direction to dialog. Check out the underwear on ropes in the men's hostel. It's funny.

The cause is also backed up by entertaining music by Salim-Sulaiman who are on a better run for the last two years. The background music by is one of the best I have heard this year barring Dabangg. Choreography has Vaibhavi Merchant written all over it and it adds a big plus in the entertainment factor of the film.

The film has a two film old female lead and a new comer. While the slightly senior Anushka has done the best work of her short career, the film belongs to the new-comer, Ranveer Singh. Where Anushka has worked really hard on mastering the tapori style and Delhi lingo, her role is quite similar to the one she had in BADMASH COMPANY earlier this year where she again used similar body language and lingo. Nothing to take away from the decent effort she has put in though.

Ranveer is fantastic. He is a trained actor who has waited for the right film to make debut and will win directors as well as audience with this performance. He is not traditionally good looking but the way he fit in his role was commendable. Neil Nitim Mukesh needs to see him to know what tapori is and not what he was in LAFANGAY PARINDAY. Watch out for Ranveer in coming films. Effortless acting and effortless dancing. If he doesn't make decisions like Vivek Oberoi, he can be a real threat to at least Imran Khan and other less talented actors like Neil Nitin Mukesh. Ranbir Kapoor I believe is safe when it comes to talent. Ranveer will already be challenging Ali Zafar for the best new comer of the year for sure.

The supporting cast is bloody good. Neeraj Sood as Maqsood is effective but my personal favorites were Revant Shergill as Santy and the guy who was Ranveer's room mate in the hostel.

On the whole, I had a lot of fun watching B3. Its one of the better films to come out this year unlike the bigger names like KHATTA MEETHA. I'm glad it also left NO PROBLEM behind. Way to go, Youth!

Excellent romantic comedy, with great performances and the very entertaining backdrop of the Delhi wedding planning industry. I think both the new director (Maneesh) and lead actor (Ranvir) should do very well in their careers, and the film proves that Bollywood should stop throwing it's untalented families of non-actors at the celluloid screen each week. Imagine how competent the pool of stars would be in the industry if we had fewer sons, bhanjas and bhatijas to contend with. Anushka, too, is a prized possession, as is the brilliant complement of supporting actors in this movie (like Maqsood Bhai and the entertaining troupe of rich spoilt brides-to-be). Songs were tons of fun, and though the film does de-generate into a typical unbelievable filmi affair near the end, you don't mind. It's all for the much needed happy ending.

After having watch a barrage of run-out-the-mill outings from the house of Yashraj, I got myself into a situation which Websters would aptly describe "despise". The promos ensured not to leave any stone unturned - typical! Only after some genuine positive word of mouth started pouring in, I decided to give it a go.

Ranveer Singh: Not only he shows a lot of promise and but manages to deliver the good as well. Shares a good on-screen chemistry with Ms. Sharma. Lets hope the new found success doesn't go over his head. And yes, please do ignore the way he comes across off-screen, totally uncool.

Anushka Sharma: Without a doubt she had my attention in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. To stand opposite SRK and yet manage to hold her own deserves a round of applause. She will no doubt give a run to her contemporaries.

The layer which explores the woman giving in to the matters of heart whilst the boy reluctant to mix business with emotional issues deserves a commendation on the writing front. The narrative slightly loses stream when the partners call it quits and the LOC is drawn. Thankfully the editor senses this lacunae and trims at right place to ensure it does not become overbearing.

Post-success of "Band Bajaa Baraat" I am sure "Ainvayi Ainvayi" became a national anthem. Next comes "Dam Dam" which has some good foot-tapping beats. And yes, choreography for both numbers deserves a good solid adulation. "Aadha Ishq" is soft number is soulfully rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. "Bari Barsi", a folk-song bears slight resemblance to "Main Sasural Nahin Jaaongi" from "Chandni". Salim-Merchant have managed to come up with some fresh compositions.

For a first-timer Maneesh Sharma surely hold the directorial reigns quite well. Habib Faisal does a good job on the screenplay front. Undoubtedly its a life-saver for Yashraj. Here's hoping that they stop churning the usual and take the path lesser travelled.

With Band Baaja Baarat, Anushka Sharma has completed her three picture deal with Yash Raj Films and in some way had gone full circle. In her debut film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi we first see her burst onto the screens in a pre-wedding scene - her character's, before tragedy doomed her to a hastily agreed upon marriage to Shah Rukh Khan's Surinder Singh as arranged by her father on his deathbed. Here, she plays the wedding planner, and a number of major scenes see her both fussing around and enjoying herself in the weddings of her relatives and clients, and playing a role whose profession symbolizes some major shifts in conservative mindsets where weddings are outsourced to professionals behind the scenes rather than leaving it under the hands of relatives.

And one wonders how bold the studio is in entrusting a major film to a new first time director Maneesh Sharma whose experience has come from working as an AD in other major films, and pairing the still relative newcomer Anushka opposite the complete rookie Ranveer Singh as her co-star. This risk had paid off, as the end product is something relatively refreshing and spunky, going well with the themes, look and feel for Band Baaja Baaraat which is to break mindsets, and as teenage characters, epitomized the can-do, fearless spirit of entrepreneurship, wanting to try rather than to regret later in life.

Anushka plays Shruti Kakkar, who is dead set in her ways in wanting to start her own firm Shaadi Mubarak in the wedding planning arena, and deflecting the usual route where a girl has to seek marriage after graduation and live a life that's more or less set, rote and formulaic. Fate has her chance upon the laid back Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) who is looking to stay in Delhi a little longer after graduation, otherwise at his father's insistence he has to pack up and go back to his village to continue his family's roots in running a sugarcane plantation. Like all romantic films, it's opposites attract to a certain extent with Mr Relax vs Ms Focused as she reluctantly makes him a partner in her start up, as they draft an informal pact to stay focused on their career path and keep their friendship platonic.

At least up until the Intermission where things start to spiral a little out of control as emotions run high, and you'd come to expect the entire second half of the film to run aground with the usual fights and arguments, which in some way parallels the mood of the film where a split becomes problematic, and only when they work together as a team does the magic of the film happen. Basically it's the rules that the duo set out to break in their chosen industry, and with a pact made on their friendship never treading into the romantic space, you know it's a set up since breaking and bending the rules is something they do on a daily basis with a growing business.

And this mirror is more pronounced as we start to see how materialism and the building of a career can get in the way of romance, with the tussle on demands for time taking its toil. The only spark in the second half as it plods itself to an inevitable end for a romantic film, is how sometimes we get a little callous especially in taking someone else for granted, and here we see how the female of the species is actually quite complicated when her heart is set aflutter, painting Bittoo inadvertently as the cad without feelings, and a silly boy at that when love comes knocking at his doorstep.

On the characters' professional front I would have preferred it a little more if there's some poetic justice dished out in being more direct in being competitors to their brief mentor in the business, who perceived as the best turns out nothing more than a fraud when it comes to delivering quality service. I suppose in the outsourcing business one wonders if one gets the best, or are shortchanged left right and center in the way unscrupulous business is done. This of course gives rise to a myriad of supporting characters such as Maqsood the florist (Neeraj Sood), Rajinder Singh the caterer (Manmeet Singh) and Bittoo's friend Santy the musician (Revant Shergill) to join in as small suppliers hell bent on delivering quality as a business ethic.

I've always loved Indian weddings put on screen, because that promises colour and spectacle, with lovely songs and energetic dances putting up quite a performance for an outsider like myself to witness and enjoy. Band Baaja Baaraat offers just that in large doses with the different projects the fledging Shaadi Mubarak organizes, and needless to say I was having a field day. It's bands, horns and revelry out in full force, and both leads were a delight as they breathed life into their roles as business partners turned lovers. Anushka Sharma has grown from strength to strength with each film release, and Ranveer Singh is quite the discovery, with new male Bollywood heroes being quite the rare species in recent years, and his well oiled performance here doesn't betray the fact that he's into his debut. Let's see what other films will appear over the horizon for this rookie.

Band Baaja Baaraat is that spectacle that comes highly recommended, so catch it if you can as it nears the end of its run here.