Marriage is not always based on love which isn’t also the sole reason for two people to stick together. Respect, compatibility and transparency is the secret ingredient of a happy marriage. Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar starrer ‘Badhaai Do’ deals with compromises in a marriage and how the LGBTQ community is still not “normal”.
With the mainstream cinema dealing with this subject ‘Badhaai Do’ is not the first of its kind but what makes it unique is the fact that it shows the details of true events that a homosexual person in an Indian family goes through, the lies they tell and the heartaches they bear.
Shardul aka Rajkummar Rao and Sumi aka Bhumi Pednekar lived in a small town where the knowledge of sexuality and love is very stigmatized and none has the knowledge of a broader aspect. Their family members pressurised them to get married as soon as possible but they were unaware of their sexual orientation. They lived a life of lies and were busy in their career. When they meet, they realize that the only way to keep their secret buried was to get married and live separate lives.
There is a lot of depth in both the characters underlying the humour. The film comes with a social message and successfully entertains. The thought-provoking scenes where one is slammed as a pervert by her own brother who belongs to this generation, for being a homosexual and a mother embracing her son without any shame or fear brings out a sensitive side that is engaging.
‘Badhaai Do’ gives us a screaming message that the LGBTQ community deserves love, respect and acceptance, not tolerance and bashing. The Harshvardhan Kulkarni directorial revolving around a marriage of convenience breaks prejudices and stereotypes. A gay man and a lesbian girl break the shackles of society and live their own life on their own terms.
Being a family entertainer, the movie is too long with some unnecessary scenes that could have just been edited out. Also, the end of the movie could have been much crisper with a better frame. The soundtrack was very refreshing and seemed to smash the set rules embedded in our society. The songs were composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli, JAM8 and Sunny Bawra-Inder Bawra.
The movie is delicate, sensitive and performed with extreme perfection by the artists. It feels like an everyday story and something that one has heard of.
‘Badhaai Do’ is currently streaming on Netflix and has been released in theatres.
Rating: 3/5
