~Badhaai Ho Movie Review and BO Updates~ Crosses 100Cr

A man faces embarrassment in the society when he finds out his mother is pregnant

Director: Amit Ravindernath Sharma (as Amit Sharma)

Writers: Akshat Ghildial (screenplay and dialogue), Akshat Ghildial (story) | 2 more credits

Stars: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta

Badhaai Ho' film review: Great expectations are partially met in comedy about pregnancy

Amit Sharma's comedy explores the consequences of an unplanned pregnancy on a middle-class Delhi family.


by Nandini Ramnath(Scroll.in)

Published 3 hours ago


Badhaai Ho' film review: Great expectations are partially met in comedy about pregnancy

Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao in Badhaai Ho | Junglee Pictures/Chrome Pictures




Hindi cinema's favourite Diffident Young Man is back in a movie that actually doesn't revolve around his inability to face up to hard facts. Badhaai Ho, directed by Amit Sharma and based on a screenplay by Akshat Ghildial, stars Ayushmann Khurrana in an exceedingly familiar role, but ultimately belongs to a couple past their prime who read poetry on a rainy night and reach out to each other. A few months later, Priyamvada (Neena Gupta) realises that she is pregnant. Her husband Jitinder (Gajraj Rao) doesn't know where to hide his face.

More embarrassed than the middle-aged couple is their elder son Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana), who has only recently managed to impress his posh girlfriend's mother that he is of respectable stock. Since Priyamvada has declared that abortion is a sin (the first warning sign of this movie's conservatism), Nakul has to grimace and bear it. He must face up to his girlfriend Renee (Sanya Malhotra), her startled mother (Sheeba Chaddha) and his friends and relatives, but most of all, himself.


The setting is a middle-class government colony in Delhi. The humour draws from the use of language and idiom characteristic to the Capital and the family's efforts to handle the unplanned pregnancy. Gajraj Rao marvellously portrays the bundle of emotions that is Jitinder. His surging love for his wife is checked by idle chatter by neighbours, family members, and his domineering mother (Surekha Sikri). Jitinder does allow himself a secret smile at his male prowess, which is neatly contrasted with Nakul's inability to get his future sibling out of his head even in moments of intimacy.


The older generation proves to be wiser and more resilient in dealing with the facts of life (the one about using protection produces some good jokes). Badhaai Ho has a strong pre-interval section that nicely sets up its characters and their dilemma. But then it allows itself to get derailed as Nakul's flapping takes centrestage. Nakul's anxiety conveniently resolves itself in time, but not before he sets out on a collision course with Renee's mother that adds nothing to the movie.

At least these moments allow the brilliant Sheeba Chaddha to shine as she wonders (and correctly) whether her wealthy daughter will fit into Nakul's family and talks about the things that actually matter (financial strain, the health risk to Priyamvada).

Badhaai Ho is far more attuned to the homespun wisdom of Nakul's grandmother. Played by acting veteran Surekha Sikri, the grandmother proves to be the movie's second-most radical element after the admission that older married couples have sex too. A whole film could have been dedicated to the tender relationship between Jitinder and Priyamvada, which enters a new phase with the pregnancy and yields the most winning sequences, rather than Nakul's unearned transformation.


Ayushmann Khurrana has been in the zone of forced choices before, from Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) to Andhadhun (2018) through Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) and Shubh Mangal Savdhan (2017). Badhaai Ho doesn't push the needle for the actor, and there is little in Khurrana's performance that is new or surprising. Although Nakul's relationship with Renee drives his action, Sanya Malhotra is purely ornamental and barely leaves a trace.

The biggest cipher in the movie proves to be Priyamvada. Neena Gupta appears too old to be playing a middle-aged housewife, but she has a nice rhythm going with Gajraj Rao, and cedes all the big moments to her more controlled and confident co-star. Priyamvada looks exhausted with domesticity even before she gets knocked up. Her swelling belly is in inverse proportion to her importance as the 125-minute movie wears on. Priyamvada fades out of the view as Badhaai Ho chases a different set of expectations. Priyamvada's thoughts barely matter, which is a gaping hole in a movie that pays close attention to each of its characters. She is the one carrying the baby, but the heavy lifting is left to Jitinder and Nakul.

Badhaai Ho Movie Review

Times Of India


Rachit Gupta, TNN, Updated: Oct 18, 2018, 08.13 AM IST

Critic's Rating:
4.0/5


Badhaai Ho Story: A middle-aged couple Priyamvada Kaushik (Neena Gupta) and Jeetender Kaushik (Gajraj Rao) get unexpectedly pregnant. The couple from a middle-class family starts feeling conscious about the pregnancy, as they become a talking point in their social circles. Even their sons Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana) and Gullar (Shardul Rana) grapple to cope with the situation that they are in, because they believe...Yeh bhi koi mummy papa ke karne ki cheez hai?

Badhaai Ho Review: Middle-class families are often riddled with their own set of values and social systems. While pregnancy and motherhood are celebrated, subjects like sex and romance are talked about with a degree of embarrassment and awkwardness. The concept of 'Badhaai Ho', where a quintessential Delhi couple; parents to two adult boys (one of them is of marriageable age), get pregnant out of the blue, is just the sort of subject that can ruffle-up feathers within the middle-class family system. Yet, this dramedy, based on children feeling terribly embarrassed by the outcome of their parents' mid-age romance; with outsiders joining in the criticism, conveys some really progressive thoughts. The situational humour of 'Badhaai Ho' is complimented perfectly, by striking performances from Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta and Ayushmann Khurrana. This film is as funny as it is liberal. The conversation around the fact that romance and passion have nothing to do with age, make this film a stand out for many reasons.

The Kaushiks live in Delhi's Lodhi colony, a run-of-the-mill setting, where family affairs can tumble into the next home through adjoining balconies and windows. So, when Jeetender and his wife Priyamvada find out about their unexpected pregnancy, the news spreads like wildfire. Neighbours get curious, but the knee-jerk reactions come from members of the Kaushik household. The two sons are shocked by the fact that their parents still have an active love life (read: sex life), while the grandmom (Surekha Sikri) is appalled by the news, too. Steering clear of clichs and stereotypes, the writing of Shantanu Srivastava and Akshat Ghildial brings in some genuinely likeable moments. The way the parents break the news to their family is hilarious. Priyamvada's colony friends feel happy for her, while her own children are almost left red-faced by the news. The on-screen romance between the parents, replete with 80s and 90s romantic songs playing in the background, is absolutely endearing. The well-crafted dialogues add to the hilarity of the situations.

You don't expect actors playing mom and dad' to have as much screen space as the young leads of the film, but director Amit Ravindernath Sharma actually puts the spotlight on senior actors Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta. Their romantic moments are the veritable highlight. Same goes for their performances, too. Neena Gupta is excellent in her portrayal of the unsettled mother. Gajraj Rao's performance is the best thing about 'Badhaai Ho'. In fact, he steals every scene that he's a part of. Just his body language, mannerisms and expressions are enough to make you laugh out loud. Not to be overshadowed, Ayushmann, too, is in top-form, playing the son who feels the brunt of the social pressure. So much so, that his relationship with his girlfriend, Reene (Sanya Malhotra) gets affected, too. Surekha Sikri, who plays the dadi, deserves a special mention. She's old-fashioned for various reasons, but when it comes to taking up for her bahu with a baby bump, she unabashedly tells the rest of the family that it's admirable for couples to be in love and have "sexy (meaning sex) at this age. Sanya Malhotra, who plays the girl with modern outlook, breezes through her role.

'Badhaai Ho', much like its subject, puts a fantastic new spin on the usual. In a new-age rom-com, you'd expect Ayushmann and Sanya's love story to take centre stage, but when you see the middle-aged parents blush with romance, the entertainment really becomes novel. The music by Tanishk Bagchi, Rochak Kohli and JAM8 is top-grade, too. Tracks like 'Badhaiyaan Tenu', 'Naina Na Jodeen' and 'Sajan Bade Senti' fit the mood perfectly. The film engages thoroughly, while still making a social statement. Even though the story has a limited scope, the detailed writing, the finesse of Sharma's direction and some unforgettable performances, make this film an absolute winner.

Also See:
'Badhaai Ho': Reasons to watch the Ayushmann Khurrana and Sanya Malhotra starrer


In-depth Analysis

Our overall critic's rating is not an average of the sub scores below.



Direction:


4/5

Dialogues:


4/5

Screenplay:


4/5

Music:


3.5/5

Visual appeal:


3.5/5

I really want this movie to become a hit. Seems like a fun movie.

I surely hope they play this movie near us. Excited to watch this on the big screen

Looks like Ayushman has another winner at hand!! Cool!

Badhaai Ho Movie Review: Neena Gupta Is Outstanding In A Wonderful Cast

Badhaai Ho Movie Review: Gajraj Rao is consistently convincing, but perhaps the most impactful performance is delivered by Surekha Sikri

Entertainment | Saibal Chatterjee | Updated: October 18, 2018 11:35 IST


Badhaai Ho Movie Review: Neena Gupta Is Outstanding In A Wonderful Cast
Neena Gupta, Ayushmann Khurrana and the cast of Badhaai Ho (Courtesy badhaaihofilm)

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta, Gajra Rao, Surekha Sikri

Director: Amit Ravindernath Sharma

Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma's Badhaai Ho deserves unstinted kudos. It not only dares to tackle a tricky theme, it does so with laudable finesse. This film is a worthy addition to the raft of adventurous, sure-handed genre-benders that the Mumbai movie industry has been delivering of late in a welcome rush.

Badhaai Ho is a far cry from Sharma's debut film, Tevar, which was all fire and brimstone, a small-town love-and-vengeance concoction that allowed itself to fall prey to excess. In sharp contrast, restraint is the key in his sophomore effort. From the first outing to the second, he has clearly come a long way. Badhaai Ho is a sweet little gem informed with gentle wit and infectious warmth. The slice-of-life storytelling, which is appreciably enhanced by solid performances from a wonderful cast, is marked by control and sensitivity.

The screenplay by Akshat Ghildial (who is also the dialogue writer) is shorn of clichs - an attribute that lends the film a veneer of freshness. It lasts all the way until the very end and helps it tide over the more difficult elements in the plot. With the actors on song, Badhaai Ho has a smooth, even feel that makes it an easy watch.

This is a family drama with a difference whose appeal stems from the confident and steady manner in which it unfolds. Badhaai Ho is relatable despite the fact that it deals with a situation that isn't all that common, in real life or in cinema. Sharma knows his craft and demonstrates an acute sense of proportion, especially when he is dealing with the dramatic moments that spur the tale forward.

Set in Delhi, Badhaai Ho revolves around a pregnancy that causes a major stir in a middle-class family and the neighbourhood in which it lives. The would-be mother isn't some unwed girl, but a fifty-something mother of two grown-up boys, Priyamvada (Neena Gupta). The news is greeted with disbelief and disdain.

Priyamvada's husband, Jitender Kaushik (Gajraj Rao), is a travelling ticket examiner is assailed by conflicting emotions. He toys with the idea of an abortion, but leaves the decision to his wife. She puts her foot down and opts to take the risk of bearing another child. Her elder son, Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana), who has a corporate job, is in a tizzy when he figures out what is 'wrong' with his mom.

The Kaushik family, which includes a younger son (Shardul Rana) and a grandmother (Surekha Sikri), lives in a modest railway colony where news of any domestic development spreads fast and wide. But Nakul manages to hide the fact that his mother is pregnant from his girlfriend and colleague Renee (Sanya Malhotra). But, inevitably, his success is short-lived.


Badhaai Ho tells two love stories - one of the elder couple, the other of Nakul and Renee. The strain unleashed by the former tells on the latter: the younger couple are on the verge of splitting up when the class divide between them snowballs into a full-blown confrontation between the man and the girl's widowed mother (Sheeba Chadda).

Nakul overhears Renee's mother badmouthing his family when she learns that Mrs Kaushik is expecting a child at an age when she should be concentrating on raising grandchildren. She describes Nakul's brood as "a circus I wouldn't buy tickets to" and asserts that "such things don't happen in families like ours".

The script skillfully balances the intersecting strands as the two couples negotiate necessarily different sets of problems. Priyamvada and her husband have to reckon with the latter's temperamental mother, who appears to have no love lost for her daughter-in-law and is shocked out of her wits when the news of the late pregnancy is broken to her.

The two sons are embarrassed no end, and have to face tetchy moments when friends begin to pull their legs. But at no point does Badhaai Ho slip into overt facetiousness - it goes through with its unusual construct with an absolutely straight face, never straying into territory that might be described as corny. That isn't a mean feat given the delicate crux of a story in which veteran actors are allowed as much play as two romantic leads.

Gajraj Rao, in what is by far his most protracted role in a Hindi film, is consistently convincing, oscillating between elation and embarrassment without missing a single trick. Neena Gupta is outstandingly measured in her interpretation of the woman grappling with the repercussions of an unplanned pregnancy. But perhaps the film's most impactful performance is delivered by Surekha Sikri as the crabby old woman who never shies away from speaking her mind.

Yes, among the most impressive aspects of Badhaai Ho is the way the director harnesses the rest of the on-screen talent pool and makes every character, even the minor ones, count. In the scene where Ayushmann Khurrana's character harangues his girlfriend's mother in her own home, both he and Sheeba Chadda - she does all the talking, she only listens - are in top form, as is the director himself. The set-up is replicated a little later in an apology sequence in which Khurrana is the sole talker and Chadda is the listener.

Sharma extracts equally useful performances from Alka Kaushal (as Mr. Kaushik's Meerut-based sister, Guddan), Alka Amin (as her elder sis-in-law) and Shardul Rana (as the younger son).

Badhaai Ho is certainly worth a visit to the multiplex.

Oh my what a movie 🤣.. guys book your tickets and go it's fdfs movie .haven't seen such movie in ages.

It is a fantastic opening for #BadhaaiHo Improving with passing hours.. Opening shows :- 32-33% Current shows :- 37-40% heading to a SOLID opening day.