Badhaai Ho Review - Milking an intriguing prospect
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00:00I've just been to watch Aayushman Khurana's slice of life comedy, Badai Ho.
00:04Just like the miracle of birth, it's messy but it's also equally glorious.
00:14It stars award-winning actress Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri and Sanya Malhotra
00:20of Dangal Fe. It's one of those comedies with a very unique premise. It talks about late
00:26life pregnancy and how middle-class families in Delhi have to grasp with that new reality.
00:32Imagine if one fine day your parents come up to you and say they're expecting their child.
00:37A similar predicament hit Aayushman Khurana who plays Nakul's wife when his parents,
00:43ageing parents who are nearing their retirement, tell him that they are expecting their third
00:50It's wonderful to see Aayushman Khurana in top form as he plays Nakul who tries to grasp with
00:56the new reality. It's one of those movies where you feel every character in the movie is a part
01:02of a family that you would like to know. They're so earnest and they're very endearing and Amit
01:07Sharma, director Amit Sharma does a fantastic job of bringing alive their stories and their voices
01:13very convincingly. I think the person who walks away with the most glory is national award-winning
01:19actress Neena Gupta. She's just in top form as a mother who's embarrassed facing the society and
01:26her own family and her mother-in-law is so comical. The best part is that she doesn't
01:31try too hard. It's not a physical humour. Every expression which is nuanced says the kind of
01:38predicament that she is in. So it's one of those rare movies in Bollywood that utilizes subtlety
01:44and humour with such great effect. Now another thing that I love about this movie is that
01:49it takes a subject like late pregnancy and does not you know stoop down to melodrama or unnecessary
01:56subplots and twists to make it interesting. It moves at a very languid but at the same time
02:02smooth phase. One of my favourite scenes in the movie is the moment when the mother-in-law stands
02:08up for the daughter-in-law. It's very progressive although it is in a very middle-class setup
02:12and you expect the drama to be way too loud. I love it how director Sharma brings out the best
02:18in actors by some very smart writing. The lines are snappy and the situations that they place
02:23these characters in are very convincing. You know it's not very common in Bollywood to see movies
02:29without way too dramatic twists or a second half that goes totally derailed. In this one Amit Sharma
02:36actually keeps the movie together, keeps the humour intact. It's witty, it's not too crass.
02:41Imagine you're dealing with a subject such as late pregnancy. So there was always this
02:46potential of it being a bit awkward or icky especially when you look at romances between
02:51elders. But here there's such a tenderness between Gajraj Rao's character and Neena Gupta's character.
02:58Both of them have this tender sweet moments between them. You can't help but smile at their
03:03chemistry. Full marks to the whole cast and crew for putting their best foot forward. There's also
03:08Sanyam Malhotra. You know her from Dangal and you know her from Pataka. She's a very strong actress.
03:14Here she plays a very confident young woman. You know what you love best about her? She's the only
03:18one in the family or outside the family who's cool with the pregnancy. While Ayushman's,
03:24Khurana's character Nakul and his younger brother is grappling with the reality whether should they
03:30embrace their new child or whether are they ready for a sibling is explored. Here's Sanyam Malhotra
03:36as Rene who's in top form. She just says you cannot expect your parents to seek your permission
03:42when they want to have sex. So these are very progressive lines and it also talks about pro-choice
03:48but in a very humorous way. So these are very important topics that are rarely explored in
03:53Hindi films but director Amit Sharma manages to do so. One of the downsides of this movie
03:59of course is that the trailer gave the best bits of the movie away. So sometimes if you've seen
04:04the trailer, I feel the nuggets of humor that were like the classic comic gifs were already
04:10revealed. So the farm was already given away but that shouldn't stop you from watching this movie.
04:15I'm going with 3.5 out of 5. This is one of the movies that has very few labor pains
04:21and I can guarantee you that it's not as difficult a tough labor to watch this movie.