Badhaai Do
Dir: Harshavardhan Kulkarni
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar
Rating: ***

I found something fundamentally disconcerting about the timing of the release of Badhaai Do. Releasing in theatres two years after the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, the movie, that delves into a marriage of convenience between a lesbian woman and a homosexual man feels conformist at first. However, director Harshavardhan Kulkarni and his able team of writers — Suman Adhikary and Akshat Ghildial — have done better with the story at hand.

I’m glad to stand corrected as they impress with a film that, for the most part, feels sincere. Thankfully, they don’t treat the subject of homosexuality as a dramatic plot reveal, or an aspect that one needs to come to terms with. It’s tied to the identity of the lead characters so deeply that Kulkarni doesn’t use it for effect. And that’s what makes the world of a difference.