If you’re sucker for wedding, shaadi, marriage films, well then Band Baaja Baraat is clearly your film of the year. I for one am a thorough shaadi film fan. Ask me to name my all time favorite films and most likely, almost half of them will be about or revolve around weddings. From Hum Saath Saath Hain to Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Vivaah, some of the most loved films in Hindi cinema include weddings. But that shouldn’t surprise you really. Desi’s love to party and what better place to eat, drink and be merry than at a wedding? In fact, no matter which part of the world you’re in, a Desi wedding is always filled with pomp, glitz and glamour. And that is exactly what Band Baaja Baraat is about: planning weddings! Director Maneesh Sharma takes on India’s favorite topic, “Shaadi” and has made it into a full-fledged film, believe it or not. With Anushka Sharma and newbie Ranveer Singh as lead actors in the film, you can be sure you are going to be treated to a fun time and couple dozen weddings. So let the celebrations begin!
Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma) is your typical Delhi no nonsense girl who is dead keen on becoming India’s best wedding planner. In fact, she has her business set out for her and intends to pursue “Shaadi Mubarak” as soon as her exams are finished. Enter Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh). Ambitionless and basically a vellah, Bittoo finds himself running out of reasons to head home to his father’s farm and thus, after a small wedding-crasher encounter with Shruti convinces her to let him join in on the wedding planning business. They start out with a number of small but affordable weddings and soon find themselves planning shaadi’s for the big guns. One night after a successful wedding and a little too much to drink, they fall victim to the alcohol. You know the rest! Shruti falls in love with Bittoo who is unaware of his feelings for her and after a bitter fight, the business partners split up. They start their own businesses only to fail but are then bought together by a couple who insist on them working together. Shruti in the meantime has found her life partner. Bittoo is then forced to sit back and reevaluate his love for Shruti.
Straight off the bat, BBB gives you the Aaja Nachle feeling. And lo and behold, director Maneesh Sharma happens to be one of the writers to the dancing film. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch BBB. In fact, you really should. Yes, the film heralds the cheese factor but in all honesty, it is incredibly entertaining. You are sucked into a world of incredible weddings and witness the innate planning it takes to be a wedding planner. As a director, Maneesh Sharma does well to bring the theme of weddings and even the aura of Delhi to the forefront. Of course, you can pretty much guess post the interval where the film is headed and so it comes as no surprise leading up to the climax but even then, it manages to entertain. What helps the film is the great music by Salim-Sulaiman. Each and every song is fabulous to listen and a treat to watch simply because they look and seem so natural. While Ainvayi takes the crown, none of the rest should be ignored. This is a must have album.
BBB predominantly works because of the chemistry that is evident between Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh. Individually too they do well. Anushka is a breath of fresh air. While we’ve seen a number of plastic dolls do their thing this year, Anushka comes along with her realness and manages to impress. She could be the girl next door or the bride’s sister or even your wedding planner. But something has changed with the actress and that is her understanding of the art. You see her cry and laugh before displaying anger; impressive. Ranveer Singh is good too. He comes across as confident despite his slightly uncanny resemblance (and acting style) to Ranbir Kapoor. It wouldn’t be fair to call him a wannabe but it was evident. The supporting cast provides good support and lends a great hand.
So the ultimate question: should you watch Band Baaja Baraat? If you’re looking to get married, then for sure; if you’re a shaadi junkie, go for it and if you just want to watch something light-hearted and fun; absolutely. Don’t expect groundbreaking cinema here, you won’t get it. But you do walk out feeling happy, giddy and refreshed. BBB is a fun watch!
