When Surprise Becomes Celebration: The Many Layers of Badhaai Ho
Upon its release in October 2018, no one really anticipated Badhaai Ho’s phenomenal success. After all, a film about an elderly couple experiencing pregnancy hardly sounds like a surefire winner — in fact, it’s a proposition that would spark an embarrassed silence at a dinner table. However, Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s directorial risk paid off, and Badhaai Ho became one of the most beautifully humanistic comedies of Indian cinema, expanding the definition of “family entertainment.”
At its core, Badhaai Ho is narrative about discomfort, and the ways in which a family, from a middle-class perspective, must learn to see itself in a new way. It is joyfully about love, the burdens of inter-generational guilt, and the defiance of celebrating life in the face of social stigma.
The Shock That Made the Nation Laugh
In many ways, the promo for Badhaai Ho was a masterclass in advertising. Ayushmann Khurrana’s incredulous expression became an instant meme, and audiences were hooked. The premise was outrageous yet somehow curiously believable. Fans on social media were split. Some called it “a bold comedy,” while others seemed skeptical, asking, “How will they pull this off without turning it into a joke?”
The answer was displayed in the film’s quiet confidence. Sharma’s direction handed the subject with calmness, refusing to dramatize the subject. Instead, he treated it like life—awkward, funny, and tender all at the same time. Badhaai Ho eventually released, and throughout Indian theaters, audiences were not just watching a family, they were watching themselves.
A Family Torn Between Embarrassment and Emotion
A quintessential middle-class Delhi family forms the core of the story. Government employee Jeetendra Kaushik (Gajraj Rao) is nearing retirement, and, along with his wife Priyamvada (Neena Gupta), his two sons Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana) and Gullar, and Jeetendra’s mother, Dadi (Surekha Sikri), form the core of the family.
The discovery of Priyamvada’s pregnancy leads to the family’s initial shock. In the case of Nakul — in his late twenties and dating Renee (Sanya Malhotra) — and his younger brother Gullar, who is the target of schoolyard taunts, humiliation is the primary feeling. In the case of Dadi, who is not above sharp criticism, presents the challenge of deciding whether she is amused or offended.
This film pays special attention to the emotional undercurrents. Nakul’s disproportionate shame is, in part, the confrontation of parental intimacy, an experience most Indian children do not ever find the vocabulary to process. In the case of self-consciousness from the elite class relatives and the girlfriend’s mother (Sheeba Chaddha), and even the neighborhood gossip, there is a feeling that is shared of Subcontinental family embarrassment.
Nurtured by the romance of Priyamvada, who possesses the most grace under pressure, this film champions the right of a woman to love and desire, and to embrace motherhood without restriction of social constructs of age or other forms of judgement.
Uncovered in the Introduction of the Film
In the case of the film Badhaai Ho, the use of humor is to diffuse in the audience’s mind the relevance of more radical ideas in the story. Functions of love and desire, always seen to be arbitrary by most, are woven in the story, along with the conversation of shame and desire, and the age-old patriarchal structure.
Pregnancy is treated like a metaphor for unexpected growth — new life requiring all to change emotionally. Nakul’s discomfort echoes a societal mindset that glorifies parenthood yet distances the concept of parental attunement. His evolution from embarrassment to acceptance is more about coming of age than merely supporting his parents.
Though critical of generational hypocrisy, the film does so without overt bitterness. In the beginning, Dadi is the voice of obsolete morality, yet she reveals implacable bias by staunchly supporting her daughter-in-law.
Amit Sharma intricately wove the different threads of the script. The cramped Delhi home, the societal pressure of the household, the scenes of rain and windows awaiting the change of season as a metaphor for renewal, the Holi sequence which directly moves discomfort to uninhibited celebration, and color judgment to gray.
Real Lives, Reel Emotions
So much of the praise for Badhaai Ho is deservedly owed to the cast, not only for their stellar performances but for the way their real life trajectories so closely followed that of the characters they portrayed.
For Ayushmann Khurrana, this film was a part of his golden run, coming right after Andhadhun and before Article 15. But there was a long period of struggle and unconventional choices before any of it. His ability to choose taboo themes, as in Vicky Donor and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, was similar to Nakul and his growth. Nakul, as an integral part of the film’s narrative, confronted social adversity and discomfort with humor and empathy.
Neena Gupta’s casting was, in itself, a statement. An actress who was prominent in the 80s, she fell silent for a long time. Her decision to raise her daughter Masaba as a single mother in the public eye made her a symbol of quiet defiance. When she posted on Instagram, “Looking for good parts to play in Mumbai,” it went viral and became synonymous with the film Badhaai Ho, her comeback. The situation of Priyamvada and Neena was similar in the most uncanny of ways. Both women were brave in love and unapologetic about their choices.
Gajraj Rao had the most appreciation for his work, even as a character in supporting roles, which he had earned. His performance of Jeetendra was made to be an uncomfortable jacket, as he was made to be a silent, even affectionate, male figure. Rao was able to use his improv skills with the pieces made for him and, in rehearsal, use his memories of father figures in middle class, etched down in Delhi as his influence for many of the scripted lines.
Como Dadi, Surekha Sikri fue una ladrona de escenas, y por el equilibrio de la dureza y la ternura, la interpretacion de la abuela fue una muestra de la disciplina teatral y cinematográfica de Surekha Sikri, lo que otorgo profundidad al personaje y la hizo mas que un alivio cómico. El momento en que le grita a su hijo y luego le otorga su apoyo fue una actuacion y una escritura que realmente se siente como una abuela que todos conocemos.
El Ruido Antes de la Enthusiado
Pocos recuerdan que el proyecto de Badhaai Ho no era sencillo de llevar a cabo. La historia recibió un número considerable de negativos, ya que, se corría el rumor en la industria que el cine indio no se abriría a la propuesta de una historia que tratara sobre una mujer mayor que quedaba embarazada.
La historia, el casting y el director, que en el cine indio contemporáeno, tiene el veto de un no rotundo por su proyecto fallido Tevar, fue el eje que al ser desatendido, provoco la calidad de la historia no se percibiera en su entrega.
Throughout the course of filming, the predominant issue was not constraint of budget or time, but the issue of tone. Sharma maintained the position that no humor could be vulgar. The dialogue construction, which was the main time-consuming issue during the course of the project, was an elaborate exercise in constructing words in which a light tone or even absurdist humor could be enacted in a manner that transcended vulgarity. While Gajraj and Neena practiced together a great deal, leading to the formation of the requisite shy chemistry of an older couple rediscovering love, Gajraj even more extensively improvised during the enactment of Nakul’s panicked reactions.
Social media post releases of Badhaai Ho was euphoric, as all social media turned into a euphoric celebration. The praise was that the film “normalized parents as humans,” and social media critics of the film celebrated it as “the new language of Indian family cinema.” The internet was overrun with memes, quotes, and GIFs. The phrase “Oho, Badhaai Ho!” became a cheeky cultural greeting.
It was even small, wordless, and deeply symbolic. It was the tender scene where Nakul, in the completion of a grateful, emotionally charged acceptance of a deep sulk in resentful silence, symbolically enacted a tense acceptance of a deep sulk by offering his mother a glass of water. The reconciliation in the offering of the glass water was more dramatic than anything that could have been verbalized. It transcended the dramatics of reconciliation.
In the interviews, the cast even went so far as to say that they had received heart warming messages from real couples who had faced late pregnancies as well as family backlash. Some even said the film helped heal generational rifts in their homes.
The Celebration that Changed Bollywood’s Vocabulary
The movie ‘Badhaai Ho’ was not only a commercial success but a cinematic turning point. It demonstrated that Indian audiences were primed for narratives that were forthright and unhistrionic. It was successfully comedic and reflective without being didactic or copious.
Under all that wit, warmth and sentiment, lay a message as deep as the title: Life is unpredictable. It can surprise and embarrass you, bring you lessons, and once in a while, in the form of a celebration, give you a reason to say, ‘Badhaai Ho’ with a smile.
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