In a major misstep, Dhawan plays narrator and, his voiceover being in flashback, ends up sounding like a smug know-it-all. The rest of the film's performers are mostly wooden and disappointing - especially in contrast to the well-picked bunch in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania - and recite their lines with soap-operatic woodenness. The other actor to watch here is Sahil Vaid, who plays Badri's buddy Somnath, a stock character made memorable because of the warmth the actor gives him. Here's a leading man who can turn on the Salman smoothness and get as climactically choked up as Shah Rukh, all while being his own man. His cheery spontaneity is always genuinely cool - it's great to watch him in his element, hurling up random children as he walks down the aisle of a mata ki chowki - but his emotional beats are truly impressive. Midway through the film some events take place that turn him into a frenzied and angry young man, and Dhawan wears even this rage with vulnerability, carrying a sense of disbelief at how far he has fallen from the boy with the irrepressible smile. Vaidehi, however, is clear on what she wants: in a simply worded but powerful exchange, she tells a friend how respect means more than love.ĭhawan, who has the more demanding and dramatic role, nails it. Her sister dreams of Hrithik Roshan but lands up with a meek jaagran singer. She knows how stubbornly she needs to stick to her guns, come what may, and it's wonderful to see this strong-willed girl coyly, swiftly, fall in love without quite knowing it. Bhatt is as plucky and self-assured as the role demands, playing an intensely focussed girl very aware of her actions. What makes it work, really, is the intent and the two principal actors. It is a film, in short, with daddy issues. And while the idea of toppling the patriarchy is admirable, Badrinath Ki Dulhania aims these guns too literally: every single father in this film is a gruff monolith incapable of conversation, and must thus be eventually defied. The film's first half might be set in small towns, but there is no earthiness or texture. The hiccups arise from the storytelling, and the detailing. Conceptually, this film says a lot, and even slips in a line about a man being a woman's groom rather than her being his bride - potently doing more with a single line of dialogue than Ki & Ka managed to do with an entire film. Other films echoed but tweaked include Shuddh Desi Romance and Band Bajaa Baaraat. Khaitan constantly promises the familiar and delivers something else.
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