Badhaai Ho

Humor has the key to unlock difficult social situations. Badhaai Ho takes up an unusual circumstance of a central Delhi family and sings their story in funny jokes and one liners. The underlying prejudice and patriarchal stubbornness are dealt with light and quirky jokes.

All people everywhere and more so in India live life by a code created by society. A boy must behave a certain way, do certain things, do a certain kind of job, fulfill certain responsibilities at certain age and then die. This stereotype mold is more rigid and strict for women. Any slight deviation from this set pattern will attract the scorn. mockery, gossip and ridicule from the extended family and society. We as a nation are fanatic about ‘log kya kahenge’ and keeping up with the rules, terms and conditions set up by the society. In that obsession we give up our love for our parents, family and friends. And then when you are bang in the middle of Delhi where most of the life is invested in making a great impression in front of the unforgiving ‘samaj’; things get tough. The clothes one wears, gaddiyaan kitni hai – ek tho hona hi hai, beta kitna kamata hai, beti ki shaadi kyun nahi hui etc etc.; are all indicative of your status in the samaj. It is like a pressure test on every social function under the minor scrutiny of the ubiquitous samaj.

Badhaii Ho soaks all that up and delivers a deviation from the norm in two hours of entertainment. But when love for the family takes over then nothing matters. The lead kinda takes charge and transforms lives of his family. It would be unfair to say that Ayushman Khurana plays the typical Delhi Jat boy in most of his films. On the flip side, I don’t think anyone else can do it so well. He is the best when it comes to that particular character and he has proved it many times. In an emotional second half Surekha Sikri delivers goods that one does not see coming. The proverbial saas turns the tables to shut everyone up. The chic Sanya Malhotra plays South Delhi girl minus the show off. She has a unique quality about her on the screen that stands out as original. Though the plot of the story is humorous, the extra dose of emotions in the second half was necessary to tie open threads. A nice watch.

Rating – 3.5 / 5