Badhaai Ho
Year: 2018
Dir.: Amit Sharma
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Sanya Malhotra, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri

Husband- a middle-aged ticket collector in the railways; wife, a  typically tolerant workhorse and their two grown-up sons...it's a typical 'Hum do hamare do' middle class family in Delhi. The elder son is seeing a girl; the younger one is facing teenage troubles. A cranky old grandmother in the house (the fawning mother of the husband and the carping mother-in-law of the wife!) completes the family picture.

An unplanned pregnancy suddenly throws this settled equation into a tizzy. The hubby is unsure of facing fatherhood again, but he finally bows down to the wife's wish to keep the baby. The news is announced with trepidation. The sons are mortified and so is their grandma. The neighbours, the relatives, the general public ...everyone now starts cracking jokes and taking pot-shots at the elderly couple, specially targeting the mum-to-be. Will the middle-aged pregnancy tear this simple family apart? Will the old parents' bold act shatter their elder son's budding love-life and further distance their younger son from them?

Badhaai Ho has a very plausible, interesting storyline and it treats the theme light-heartedly yet sensitively. The drama and humour come from realistic characters and situations. The film presents different emotional and social perspectives arising out of such matters, and it unabashedly celebrates family bonds (and the inevitable bickering that goes with them!). More importantly it does that without resorting to much melodrama.

Natural performances and crisp dialogues make this film a fun watch. Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta as the elderly couple caught in the eye of the storm; Ayushmann Khurrana as the disturbed son unable to adjust to the changed situation, Sanya Malhotra as his understanding girl-friend, Sheeba Chaddha as her high society mother and the other cast members are all superb. The best performance comes from Surekha Sikri playing the cantankerous mother-in-law!

The film's real success belongs to the writer Akshat Ghidilal for writing such a layered script and the director Amit Sharma for running a tight ship.

Rating

4 Stars