REVIEW: Band Baaja Baaraat

THE WEDDING PLANNERS

The first half of debutant Maneesh Sharma's Band Baaja Baaraat is as good as anything one has seen at the movies this year. And even if the second falters, overall, it's still a refreshing watch for several reasons. Primarily because the filmmaker and screenplay-dialogue writer Habib Faisal (of Do Dooni Char fame) get the ambience, casting and pitch just right. It's a film about new India -- a young and confident youth whose world-view and attitudes have changed while Bollywood was busy churning out family melodramas seeped in outdated traditions. 

For Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma in a remarkably astute performance), her dream of becoming a wedding planner is more important that getting married and having babies. Her middle-class Delhi family, instead of throwing a fit at her show of independence, is totally supportive and encourages her, no-holds-barred. Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh making an impressive debut) doesn't wish to go back to his father's sugarcane farm in Saharanpur and persuades Shruti to let him join her business instead. His father walks off in a huff, but we don't see any parental pressure to wean him back to the family either.

Instead, we encounter new turf -- the negotiation of personal and professional space by an ambitious young couple. Both are intelligent -- he makes up with wit where he lacks in sophistication; she's strong-willed, sensible and intuitive. In the battle of the sexes, she's definitely more sure-footed -- a happy trend in recent romantic comedies too, where the girl invariably wants more, while the boy is often clueless.

The scene where the duo ends up in each other's arms after a night of drunk revelry is wonderfully played out. Fortunately, the girl doesn't wake up feeling guilty; only blissfully rapturous. When the boy drops her home in the morning, the father greets them at the gate, asks them how their business is going and proceeds to office without wondering about where and what they've been up to. Shruti's mother notices the change in her, and rather than chastising her, teases her newfound coyness. Bravo!   

Interspersed with their slowly evolving love story are many Delhi weddings -- from Janakpuri to Sainik Farms -- all set pieces beautifully composed with generous bantering and catchy music. Much of the film's charm derives from the atmosphere. Delhi-ites can perhaps vouch for its authenticity with greater confidence, but even to an outsider, it looks like a real, lived-in world. 

The second half drags somewhat, not because the conflict between the couple seems flimsy, but because the resolution, predictable as it is, takes too long to arrive at. Which, in my opinion, is a minor discord considering the overall joie de vivre.

What started off as a trickle of 'middle-class' Delhi films with Dibaker Banerjee's Khosla Ka Ghosla in 2006, is now turning into a movement of sorts with a clutch of intelligent small-budget films coming out of the capital. With some luck, they may even change the way Bollywood makes movies and give the Bhansalis, Johars and Gowarikers a run for their money. 

And did we mention the film has been produced by the Yashraj banner?

Comments

[Deepa Deosthalee]

Hitesh, perhaps you're right. But I think the primary reason is the way films are made in Bombay is all wrong. Nobody respects scripts. Everyone is insecure. And is in a hurry. That these Delhi writer-directors are getting a chance is in itself a miracle.

Producers want stars. Stars are useless for most part. I look at Abhishek Bachchan's career and wonder why anyone even bothers with him. And yet, he's signing films by the dozen! Look at the kind of films Hrithik Roshan is doing and you'll see he has no script sense. Established directors have a bloated sense of self-importance and yet they continue to get mega budgets!

The Delhi writers are telling their stories. They seem more assured. And less greedy, perhaps. In Bombay, everyone wants to make a blockbuster, writers included.

And yes, Bombay is a dead city. If there are stories to tell here, nobody can find them!

[Deepa Gahlot]

And I love the Dilli accent!

[Hitesh Sharma]

Hi D

Delhi is the new Bombay. Sometime back Bombay had all the ingredients - melting pot of different cultures, hard working and ambitious middle class and an overwhelming pride in the city. Look at the way this city has changed. It is Mumbai now. Stuck in the greed of builders where you have an Audi to drive and few crore rupees flat but still NO SPACE - to drive or to live. Even the skyline here is cluttered.

And now just look around Delhi. It's a happening place. Go around in Delhi Metro and your heart will fill with the pride. One humble Sreedharan has stuck on the job for more than 10 years and given it a world class metro rail. There is a CM who is available for every single complaint. Corporate offices are moving to NCR and surprise, surprise Delhi is the new melting pot. No wonder all interesting new stories are coming from Delhi.

Unfortunately, we have lost Bombay to the builders' greed, politicians' apathy and citizens paralyzed in the survival rat-race.