Badhaai Ho Review - Oh Baby!

Do you remember when Vicky Donor came out? It was Bollywood’s look into the love life of a professional sperm donor. Shoojit Sircar was branded the poster boy of irreverence and Juhi Chaturvedi the ballsy outsider. And then 2017’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, a film that hinged entirely on erectile dysfunction. Its tagline was ‘Stand up for love!’ Both these films are spiritually linked - not only because they focus on a man’s privates, but because Ayushman Khurrana was the male lead in both of them.

They were delightful, because while their main stories focused on icky issues, the makers of those films skillfuly built up subplots, that affected the central narrative. I’m sad to report that while Badhaai Ho, also starring Ayushman, is an enjoyable affair - there is no secondary layering, just a superficial coat. The film focuses on a catalyst, here being a mere foetus. A catalyst is something that directly affects its immediate climate, without directly being impacted.

So, as an aged mother (Neena Gupta) gets pregnant after a night of unprotected sex, this unborn foetus disrupts the societal stature of the family it is about to be born into. The subtle slut-shaming glares towards the mother that are followed by the worshipping of the father for still being able to ‘get it on’. If Badhaai Ho was filled with subtler moments like these, I would have loved it. But, the film, borrowing from Basu Chatterjee and Sai Paranjpye’s world, sometimes forgets that subdued textures are a thing of art.

But the star cast, led by the brilliant Neena Gupta, work through these bumps and polish a satire on the tendencies of Indians, even those who have nothing, to belittle others just to feel a little better about themselves. Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma never lets the film become a full-blown comedy, however. That’s a positive, because it leads to an explosive speech by the always dependable Surekha Sikrim, playing a dadi, trying to come to terms with her son’s ‘infidelity’. Because, as Amit tells it, infedility, especially in Indian culture, isn’t only between a wife and a man, or on a physical level.

Instead, it plays out on a physical, mental and social level. So, anything that hurts the standing of the Kaushiks and their electric red Maruti Suzuki, is considered ‘cheating’ the very values these Kaushiks have been brought up on. But, because it’s a patriarchy, the mother-to-be, Priyamvada (Gupta) faces the main backlash. Neena is a terrific actor, and after giving back-to-back performances in Veere di Wedding and Mulk, Neena is finally back in the spotlight, mirroring a year that is oddly close to that of Seema Pahwa in 2017.

There’s also Nakul (Ayushman Khurrana) and his girlfriend Renee (Sanya Malhotra), along with her high-society mother, Sangeeta (Sheeba Chaddha). There’s this fascinating running gag where Nakul actually has three different dialects - one of casual familial relations, one for a girlfriend, and a posh facade. Ayushmann charges Nakul, and even when the film drags, his effervescence just lights up the screen. He bubbles with a spark, and his never-say-die attitude, even when Nakul is awful to his mother, is truly inspired.

There’s also Sanya Malhotra, who doesn’t make as much of an impact as she did in her previous two films - Dangal and Pataakha. But, she’s intended to be a character in the background. Sadly, Amit’s writers, Shantanu Srivastava, Akshat Ghildial and Jyoti Kapoor don’t extend that much care and affection to Sanya’s narrative with her mother. In fact, this well-written scene, involving a confrontation between Nakul and Renee’s elegant mother, proves to him - that it’s not his circumstances that are messing with him, he is the circumstance dragging himself down.

There’s also these intercuts of birds between each scene - referencing how birds fly in a flock, not resorting to petty jabs and squabbles, unlike us more ‘developed’ creatures of habit. But, ultimately, Badhaai Ho can’t juggle it all. It tries to be a comedy, a drama, a social satire, and in some places, flat out slapstick. It’s just too much for one film. Luckily, for Amit and his wobbly narrative, its actors keep it going.

Gajraj Rao as the grounded patriarch of this family in shambles is inspired and Rahul Tewari as Nakul’s brother, Junaa, also gets a few good lines. Ayushmann and Sanya are likable enough and carry the film with aplomb and grace. But the real winner is Neena Gupta, flaunting the baby bump like nobody’s business. She’s graceful, she’s smart and whenever she’s on screen, her tour de force performance engulfs you. There’s a silent sombre and shame whenever she’s on screen. But Priyamvada is a character of great force, urging herself to break free of the shackles of pleasure. Neena is fantastic and the reason you should watch Badhaai Ho.

It shows that the perpetrators of the patriarchy are the ones shackled and bound to it.