Badrinath Ki Dulhania – A movie of the times, in the guise of a masala flick!

When my husband said he wanted to watch this movie, I actually looked down upon him…how can you want to watch such no-brainer movies, I said. The trailers had made it look like this movie would help Varun Dhawan carry forward his father’s legacy of commercial rom-coms of the 90s with no sense whatsoever and I went to watch this film as a skeptic! But I was in for a pleasant surprise.

Badrinath ki Dulhania is a movie that cleverly sends across socially relevant messages while attempting to retain its commercial viability. The story line is pretty basic. Badri, the son of a rich man in Jhansi, is attracted to Vaidehi, the younger daughter of a middle-class household in Kota. Thanks to his family heritage Badri considers himself a valuable catch for any girl. He decides that the best way to take things forward would be to ask the parents to discuss the rishta. Unfortunately for him, Vaidehi turns out to be a rebel who wants to make her place in this world and find herself a job , marriage being the last thing on her mind. Things go awry and the relationship doesn’t work out leaving Badri’s father fuming, wanting to “teach Vaidehi  a lesson for all girls to remember”. A hurt and angry Badri sets out for revenge, but as is pretty evident from the name, he gets his dulhaniya in the end.

Here are some moments where this movie, with a seemingly common story, scores:

1. Right from the very start, the patriarchal customs & thoughts prevelant in our society are discussed. So ‘beta hua toh keemti laddoo and beti hui toh peda’ is the norm. Badri’s mummy is a mute spectator, whose name at one point is mentioned by Badri as ‘Mummy Bansal’, a woman without an identity. Girls’ parents are always under ‘pressure’ and ‘dowry toh banta h’. And Badri’s father in law is proud of his elder daughter in law who is ‘very qualified’ yet never talks of ‘faltu’ things like doing a job. The facts are just placed before the audience…no preachy stuff…with the hope that they understand the sarcasm behind these dialogues.
2. Throughout the movie, Vaidehi’s family is depicted as extremely loving and yet when it comes to marriage they have very traditional views – a contradiction that most girls in our country face. So the daughter could study all she wanted, but once she had reached ‘marriageable age’ and her father ‘was to retire in 2 years’, there was no alternative but to get her married off as ‘after 30 finding options is difficult’. The girl’s dreams are conveniently sidelined as her sister explains that she must ‘learn to be happy with whatever she has in front of her as the future was anyway uncertain’. Vaidehi however has an undying spirit to reach out for the stars, even if that means she must travel the distance alone.
3. There’s finally a scene of male molestation in a commercial Hindi flick, and that itself is commendable. Yes, the scene could have been more sensitive, but atleast this is an acknowledgement of the possibility of men being vulnerable and molested, and that too in front of a wide audience. The icing on the cake is that Vaidehi saves him….Get the point already, people!
4. The ladies are the hero(in)es! Badri has no job to boast off, riding on his father’s fame while Vaidehi earns well, saving up to get her father out of his debts. Urmila (Badri’s Bhabhi) who was a topper in college, is the brains behind her husband’s business expansions. So basically the girls rock ?

<<Slight spoiler alert for point 5, skip if you want!!>>

5. Lastly, I think very importantly the movie helps the men understand ‘why feminism’. We have often seen that although the Hero himself understands the girl’s aspirations, it’s his family who must be convinced to give up on their archaic traditions. In this movie, however, what’s beautiful is the hero’s journey from thinking ‘what could a girl do with her life but marry’ and stalking her all over even if that meant jeopardizing her career to believing in ‘you needn’t be the son of the house, you are a pretty awesome daughter’ and ‘I wish my Bhabhi hadn’t got married, she could have achieved so much’! I loved the fact that Badri, a guy with inbuilt patriarchal thoughts owing to his upbringing, sheds them as he observes Vaidehi work hard at her dreams and actually gets inspired by her.

All in all, this is a good movie, albeit with its flaws(an over dramatic ending included), that tries to subtly pass messages that are very relevant to today’s society. Now the rest is upto the audience. You can choose to enjoy the movie for what it looks on the exterior…a regular masala flick with some great songs and an age-old love story…or you can choose to look at the finer nuances and try understanding the message they are trying to send you.

My Rating : 3.5