Even when she appears to give in to him, her ulterior motives confirm that she, not Badri, retains control over her choices. Badri does pursue Vaidehi to stalker extremes, but Vaidehi firmly maintains the reigns of the relationship, dismissing his advances with vague amusement. But despite its predictable ending-this is definitely one of those familiar stories in which the outcome is obvious in the first 15 minutes-“Badrinath” turns some seemingly cliché beats inside out, including the classic (and highly disturbing) Bollywood trope of a lovesick boy shamelessly chasing his object of affection. But after being stung by a suitor once before, it’s anything but love at first sight for Vaidehi, whose ambitions have more to do with finding a job and escaping the oppressive mindset of her community than landing a husband her middle-class parents can’t afford.Īt first glance, the plot has all the ingredients of the usual boy-meet-girl setup. A big-hearted yet somewhat bumbling man-child who barely passed tenth grade, Badrinath is ambivalent toward his father’s antiquated beliefs, until he meets and immediately falls for the college-educated, forward-thinking Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt). He subscribes wholeheartedly to the age-old notion of sons as family assets, daughters as liabilities, and dowries as down payments for marriage. It’s one of the most well-to-do in the city of Jhansi, but a submissive bunch, ruled with an iron fist by a patriarch (Rituraj Singh). The film makes its progressive intentions clear right away, as leading man Badrinath-aka Badri-Bhansal (Varun Dhawan) introduces us via voiceover to his household. Writer-director Shashank Khaitan takes down the flashiness a notch in exchange for an attempt at some well-meaning social commentary. The results are mixed, but make for a more thought-provoking experience than your run-of-the-mill Bollywood romcom. Fortunately, while “Badrinath Ki Dulhania” leaves plenty of room for eye candy, it also isn’t all style without substance. Though ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ is a love story, it touches upon pertinent social issues like the dowry system and patriarchy prevalent in some sections of the society.Opening across North America at the beginning of Holi weekend in India, a release from Dharma Productions-whose films are almost notorious at this point for their vibrant set pieces, high-voltage entertainment value, and penchant for glitzy romance- seems as apt a way as any to kick off a festival centered on celebration, colors, and love. Alia Bhatt has also sung a version of the soulful song ‘ Humsafar’ which was originally sung by Pakistani singer Atif Aslam. Loaded with peppy dance numbers like ‘Badri Ki Dulhania’ and ‘ Tamma Tamma’, the film’s music is composed by Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi and Akhil Sachdeva. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the film released ahead of the long Holi weekend on March 10.
‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ is Varun and Alia’s third film together after their debut flick ‘Student of the Year’ and the first in the franchise ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’. This makes the Varun Dhawan- Alia Bhatt starrer the second biggest worldwide grosser of the year after Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘ Raees’, according to figures reported by. Inching close to Rs 200 crore, ‘ Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ has collected Rs 195 crore in worldwide collections, as reported by.