'Badhaai Do' Has Solid Performances, But Seems Overeager to Impress

Bollywood steadfastly continues on its mission to set “things straight” as far as depicting the LGBTQIA community is concerned. It has almost become a genre of sorts - a strong social message cushioned with desi humour, a terrifically put together ensemble that entertains and then educates. We know the drill all too well by now. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against films with a social message, but I wish the day arrives soon when the depiction of queer love doesn’t have to be “brave” or with some self-conscious additions, like even getting an actor from the North East to play a significant role. High time then that this kind of diversity be so mainstream that the story gets to flow like any other, without being subsumed by the overarching theme of having to deliver a message.

Badhaai Do, however, does its job by giving us a couple stuck in a Lavender marriage. There is a reason for fatigue to set in, and it’s primarily the trailer. So much information has already been revealed that it almost seems like a synopsis of the whole film in three minutes. We know the main conflict - the gay man marries a lesbian woman. It's an arrangement they agree to in order to escape their parents and the gazillion taunts and questions. The film is set in Dehradun, he is a police officer; she a Physical Education teacher, living like roommates and leading separate lives. Tune in!

VO: RJ Stutee

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