Badrinath Ki Dulhania Movie Review: A Cliché Woven In A Glittery Romance

For years, I have been moony-eyed over Shah Rukh Khan rescuing the damsel in distress and the actresses running in the chiffon saris, oblivious to the climate changes around them. The aura of the nineties is embedded in the beings of those who have been brought up then, and I am no exception. However, though we have outgrown the decade and wish to see our newer perspectives in the highlight, Bollywood seems to be on a struggling spree as far as that is concerned. ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ falls in that category, unfortunately, though packaged in an attractive manner.

Watch: Varun Dhawan And Alia Bhatt Bring Infectious Energy To Tamma Tamma Again From Badrinath Ki Dulhania!

The story of the movie is set in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Here comes the first cliché, the accent of the leads. Though in some cases I do agree that the quintessential ‘hum’ and ‘khadi boli’ dialect does exist, but in the region Badri and Vaidehi belong to, a normal Hindi dialect too is prevalent, and just to emphasise that they belong to a certain area, a reflection of the same would do in their language, rather than a full-blown treatment to a weird mix of Bhojpuri and Hindi, which last I heard, was more prevalent in Bihar. But then, when has Bollywood paid attention to details, and confusing UP and Bihar has been an age-old tradition. Anyway, this is something that can be overlooked, for Bollywood has always stereotyped people belonging to certain regions.

The story starts with Badri, who is the son of a rich and patronising businessman and is a perfect 90s hero, who has muscles to crack and heart that is made of mush. On the other hand, we have a headstrong Vaidehi who does not take shit from anyone, least of all Badrinath Bansal who gets smitten with her since the first meeting when he spots her dancing at a common friend’s wedding.

What then? The age-old and why-Bollywood-does-not-understand-it-is-dangerous game of stalking starts. After all, ladkikinameinuskihaanhai, remember. Badri and his friend stalk Vaidehi and reach her home with a rishta. Our heroine snubs him in a perfect way on a video call and we heave a sigh of relief that maybe, the movie has more to offer than the actress falling in love with her stalker who would not take a no.

The movie progresses and as Badri continues to pursue a not-so-willing Vaidehi, they reach a mutual agreement; If Badri manages to find a good groom for Vaidehi’s sister and helps arrange the dowry, she would marry him (WTF!), and slowly over the course of time they fall in love too (banging my head against the wall). But, here’s the twist. Once, all this is done with, Vaidehi pulls a runaway bride on Badri. What happens next is the rest of the story.

There is another sequence which uncomfortably bothers me but for some reason was hilarious for the rest of the people in the cinema hall, was when Varun aka Badri was almost molested by a bunch of men which were then chased away by Alia and her gang. Though we welcome the change that the actress saves the actor, it appals me to see how lightly the sequence is taken, and how even Badri’s friends laugh over him for getting ‘molested’. People, male rape is a real thing, and there is nothing remotely funny about it.

As you read it here, you must be thinking, why are people still flogging to the theatres to watch it? Well, it is a love story which always sells and a love story that comes from the house of Dharma with people as attractive as Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, with music we have been grooving to for the past fortnight. When this is enough, Indian audience is easily satisfied and does not want more.

On their part, Varun and Alia have done fantastic work to do justice to their respective characters, no matter how flawed the plot might be. These two light up the screen together, whether in a song or in their scenes together. The cinematography is beautiful and the editing is crisp. The music is rocking and is never a hiccup in the flow of the movie.

All in all, Badrinath Ki Dulhania gets a 2.5/5 from us. You have brilliant actors Bollywood, please ditch the old formula for some time. We have a ‘PINK’ and a ‘Dear Zindagi’ as glaring examples of last year.

You can give this one a miss, or you can go watch. Your call.