These days, Bollywood is making two kinds of films: those that remind you of the ’80s B-Grade movies and those that take you back to the ’90s when Govinda ruled the roost. The fact of the matter is that cine-goers are hungry for stories which they can enjoy with their families. Badrinath Ki Dulhania is that kind of a film.

This sequel to Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) has the same lead pair of Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan who had set the silver screen ablaze with their sizzling chemistry in HSKD. Alia had the meatier role in the first installment, but the roles are reversed in Bardinath Ki Dulhania as Varun Dhawan takes centre-stage. For those who thought that as an actor Dhawan copies Salman Khan and Govinda, this movie will change their minds, for sure.

The film is set in the city of Jhansi famous for its ‘rani’ but it’s the ‘raja’ who takes love to another level in the story. Badrinath Bansal (Dhawan) is a tenth-pass (or matric-pass) loafer who at a wedding function falls in love with a more educated Vaidehi (Bhatt). He tries to woo her but she tells him that her older sister has to get married first. Badri sets out to find the right groom for her sister (reminds you of Govinda’s Joru Ka Ghulam, doesn’t it?). At intermission, things go from good to bad and, post-interval, worse as Badri’s strict father loses his cool. How Badri manages to get out of the situation is what makes the story interesting, though it changes gear from quick to very-slow in the second half.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania belongs to Varun Dhawan whose acting keeps the audience glued to their seats throughout the film

Badrinath Ki Dulhania belongs to Dhawan who effortlessly manages to make the audience cry in some of the emotional scenes, unlike Govinda and Sallu bhai. You may find good-looking loafers like him roaming around your city, but the way he plays the good-at-heart guy sets him apart from the rest of the pack. To boot, his comedic timing, sharp looks and the ability to dance make him a bright prospect for the future. Bhatt’s character gives him tough competition: it is Vaidehi who gives the story a social angle as she rebels against the system, demands to be treated like a son and worries about her sibling. 

The film’s highlight is the character development of the lead pair. In the first half, Badrinath plays the perfect gentleman so that he can woo Vaidehi while in the latter half they move away from their comfort zones and become mature versions of their old selves. Sahil Vaid’s comedic acting as Somdev stands out because it is his matchmaking business that proves integral to the plot. The rest of the cast manages to do a decent job as well, considering all the characters are well written having a back-story of their own.

There are no uncomfortable sequences for the public which goes to show that you don’t need kissing scenes or toilet jokes (latest love of directors on this side of the Wagah border) if you have a strong script and a good set of actors. The pace of the film in the second half is, however, a little questionable. Had the editor chopped off most of the ‘touring’ scenes, the film might have fared even better.

Wedding scenes in Bollywood movies are often loaded with songs, and Badrinath Ki Dulhania is no different. There is a club remix of Bappi Lahiri’s famous Tamma Tamma, a Govindaesque Aashiq Surrender Hogaya.

On the whole, the film has all the ingredients required for a successful Dharma Productions’ project.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 19th, 2017