Band Baaja Baraat Review

Yash Raj Film’s Band Baaja Baraat is a complete family entertainment that takes the audiences behind the scenes of big, fat, Indian weddings. Debutant director Maneesh Sharma has done a good job in whipping out a fresh romantic comedy that restores the sugariness, otherwise missing in YRF flicks lately. Shooting in the typical posh by lanes of Delhi, the director has strictly bequeathed the artificial scenic setting to bring in a fresh, pragmatic feel. With the two central characters of Bitto and Shruti, the director has simply mirrored the simplistic living and high dreaming of the Delhites. Exploring the celebrations and hard works veering the lavish Indian weddings, the storyline is a simple love story with the final moments of revelation of love in the climax.

Bitto, a lazy, uncouth small town slacker finishes college and starts looking for prospects that will keep him from returning to his tawdry homeland into his family occupation of farming. A good-hearted young man with a slight stupidity about him, Bitto had a chance encounter with Shruti at a wedding ceremony while gate crashing the event for food. Shruti a small time wedding planner and a final year college student is from a middle class background with the dazzling dream of becoming the best wedding planner in India. As, bitto falls hard on Shruti at their first meeting, he eventually pursues him on her way back home from college. Shruti divulges her future plan with 'Shaadi Mubarak', the possible name for her yet-to-develop concern. As luck shines on Bitto, they ventured into a 50-50 partnership for 5 years with the strict rule of “No Romance” between them. As they worked together with honesty, planning customized marriages of mediocre families of Delhi, Shruti got lovelorn by Bitto that petered out all her rule book literature from her mind. Evidently, their contrasting characters came to a clash and Shruti had to breach the agreement with the painful realization that Bitto harbors no real feeling for her. The second half of the movie stalls all the romantic air, clouding it with failed business dealings, recurrent fighting motif and stretched out marriage sequences. The climax was a little jerky with Bitto suddenly stumbling upon the realization of his adoration for her after suffering stabs of jealousy from the anonymous love interest in Shruti’s life. The hasty acceptance from Shruti was even queerer as the audiences’ expectation of even the slightest resistance from her side was miserably failed. However, the film finally showed the wedding of Bitto and Shruti in a typical tackily flashy “Dilli shaadhi” (Delhi marriage).

Bitto, played by Ranbir Singh in his debut role is pitch perfect as he impersonates the crude, unpolished Punjabi guy who eats like a glutton and talks with his mouthful. Singh was very convincing in the character that cannot pronounce the term ‘business’ properly, but runs it street-smart neatly and diplomatically under the patronage of Shruti Kakkar. Though not a stereotypically handsome actor, Ranbir Singh as Bitto has earned huge applauses from the audiences with his sincere feat and natural acting. Performing spontaneously, Ranbir has proved his efficiency as one of most deserving newbie of Bollywood. Though, in some romantic scenes, his expressions have fall short of depth, his overall screen presence was impressive for a newcomer.

Anushka sharma, on the other hand has come a long way from Rab Ne Bana di Jodi with king Khan and showed her talent aptly in playing a middle class young lady with high ambitions and a fowl temper. She has portrayed her character well, as she fell head over heels in love with Bitto, shunned her business rule book, finally got deluded from her love struck status and completed the circle by accepting Bitto back in life again. She has played the scenes of anger, anguish, frustration, trounce, pain and back to love again, realistically, while maintaining her lean, graceful appearance all throughout.

However, the item number in which Bitto and Anushka replaced Shah Rukh Khan in the up scale wedding ceremony was a little unrealistic, though the duo bedazzled the audiences with their enticing performance. The picturization of the song “Andha Ishq” was not very befitting with the quixotic feel of the song as the audience missed the scenic locations in the love struck daydreams of the character.

The music of the movie has earned huge popularity with peppy numbers like “Aivayi Aivayi”, sad numbers like “Mitra” and romatic tracks like “Andha Ishq”. Salim-Sulaiman have done a commendable job in composing the tracks, keeping in mind the razzle dazzle of the grand Indian shaadis and the refreshing rose, lily and confetti aura of the film. Even the unpracticed dance moves in the song “Aivayi Aivayi” looked lifelike.