Band, Baaja, Baarat - the review

The big, fat Indian wedding is always a fascinating subject for Bollywood. Yashraj makes this their subject this time in 'Band Baaja Baarat' (henceforth BBB for obvious reasons). Despite having lavish North Indian weddings as the backdrop it is a small budget film (no Swiss locales), with a newcomer in the lead (no big names) and a story centred around the middle-class (no swish set). But even so, or maybe because of it, the movie works as a light-hearted weekend watch.

So meet Shruti (Anushka Sharma) a no-nonsense 20 year old girl from a middle class Delhi household. Her goal in life is to setup her own wedding planning "bijness" called "Shaadi Mubarak". She is determined to make a success of it before appeasing her parents and settling down herself.

A chance meeting at a wedding (what else) with Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) takes her plans forward. He is a the son of a Saharanpur farmer who has no goals in life besides chasing girls, gatecrashing weddings and generally having a good time before he is forced to return to the fields of UP. He is as unmotivated as she is motivated.
He tries to hit on Shruti but when Shruti makes it clear that she is not interested, he decides to do the next best thing and becomes her "binness partner" to avoid going back home.

The rules of the game are clearly specified by Shruti: "Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo" (Don't mix business with pleasure). But of course the audience knows that rules are meant to be broken. Shruti and Bittoo's business does well and their friendship grows. Bittoo proves to be invaluable to the set-up and shows much dedication to his job. They clearly make a good team and the future looks promising. The move from Janakpuri to Sainik Farms begins to happen.

However their grand plans derail when they end up spending the night together. While Shruti wakes up with the realization that she loves Bitto, he panics at the idea of getting involved emotionally. Before long, the Shruti-Bittoo partnership ends acrimoniously. She throws him out and he starts his own company, "Happy Wedding" to compete. However, soon it is clear that their magic was in their team and they begin to lose money and run from creditors. When a business magnate insists that they join hands if they want to plan his daughter's wedding, Shruti and Bittoo come together for one final gig to solve their financial problems. Needless to say that Bittoo realizes he's being an idiot and wins back Shruti so that their Shaadi Mubarak can take place.

The chemistry between the lead pair keeps the film alive - whether they are mouthing quick repartees or hurling abuses at each other. In terms of characterisation also, the level-headed and responsible Shruti is a perfect foil for the impulsive, street-smart Bittoo. The middle class Delhi setting of the story is realistic and believable and adds to the element of interest. The dialogues are sharp and snappy with no unnecessary drama and keeping the characters in mind. Songs are catchy as well especially "Aenvi, aenvi".

Anushka Sharma impresses in her third celluloid outing much more than she did in the first two. She fits the role to a T and shows off her acting chops as the spirited Shruti. Ranveer Singh makes a very assured debut and is clearly a total package. With his craggy looks, he suits the role of the uncouth, happy-go-lucky hero whose poor mastery over English does not come in the way of his running a successful "binness". One hopes to see more of him.

All in all a surprisingly feel-good, fun movie. 8/10.