From the trailers, one might feel are we going to see a revamped Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya? The answer s fortunately NO. Badrinath ki Dulhaniya is of course a love story between Badrinath and his dulhaniya but this time with a message. Humpty Sharma was an intelligently rewritten Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge whereas Badrinath is original in its content and relevant too.
Badrinath, played by Varun Dhawan is a Jhanai boy. He belongs to an oppulent family. He falls head over heels in love with the bold Vaidehi (Alia Bhatt) when he sees her at a wedding. Vaidehi, however out rightly refuses his proposal. Badri, with perseverance is back of her and eventually they become a couple. But there is a problem. Badri, because of the upbringing, comes from a male dominated mindset, where as Vaidehi is Today;s woman. The clashes are bound to happen. The rest of the movie is about his transformation by understanding the nuances of women.
The movie talks significantly about the dowry system in a very realistic setting. The moments are subtle and natural that they perfectly reflect the regressive thoughts in the society. The first half rides majorly on humour and works most of the time. The second half gets slowed down owing to the seriousness of some situations. The comic Q and A sessions between Varun and Alia are a letdown taking away the naturality the movie is trying to establish. Why would anyone ask such abbreviations or formulae? The songs if the sequel are inferior to Humpty Sharma. Badri has no matching Main Tenu Samjhawan nor a Saturday Saturday. And for the interested, Tamma Tamma songs comes at the end credits of the movie, just in case you were expecting in the film.
The production values are very good and so is the photography and editing job.
Performances wise Alia takes the cake. She is extremely confident and impeccable. Varun also has done well but goes overboard, especially when trying to be that Jhansi guy. His body language is getting repetitive. However when they converse, some apt discussions come into the picture which make you think about the prejudices and practices that are so irrelevant today yet followed.
The supporting cast were excellent. It looks like a successful team work.
Content wise, the sequel is better. This paves the way for this Shashank Khaitans Dulhaniya franchise.
A romcom with a social message which is rare and handled very well. Thumbs Up.
