Review of Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) by Emma W — 14 Nov 2018

Badrinath ki Dulhania keeps the excitement and pleasure of a typical Bollywood romantic comedy while also incorporating progressive values and social commentary. This film builds upon the traditional Bollywood values to incorporate feminist concepts as well. From the beginning it is clear that the leading female role, Vaidehi Trivedi played by Alia Bhatt, is the hero of the film, and the leading male role, Badrinath Bansal played by Varun Dhawan, is the one who needs to change his views so that the moral universe of the film may be righted. At the beginning, Badrinath is complacent in his father's misogynistic views, but through his relationship with Vaidehi realizes that he cannot allow his father to treat women this way. This is significant in contrast to other romantic Bollywood movies. For example, in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the leading male Raj is the peak of Bollywood morals, in convincing Simran that they cannot simply elope and must get the approval of the parents first. However in Badrinath ki Dulhania, Badrinath must go through "a change of heart [that] is dramatic and total" (Ashis Nandy 89) for the moral universe to be righted. Thus the film successfully incorporates all of the classic Bollywood aspects that viewers have come to know and love, from the happy ending to the fun and colorful song and dance sequences, into a movie that also tackles real and difficult issues with combating misogyny within the family structure.

However, the film did not highlight how Badrinath's father is able to move past his sexist values and accept Badrinath's marriage, his daughter-in-law working, and treat his granddaughter equally. The movie ends with a satisfying "all is well" without providing any screentime to see the switch occurr. In Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the father also must make a shift, but before the shift occurs, there is an intense scene of Simran, the female lead, pleading with her father to allow her to marry Raj. But before this, we see the progression of Raj convincing her father of his good character. In Badrinath ki Dulhania Badrinath confronts his father but there is no buildup to his father changing his mind. Nonetheless, it is a great film that is quintessential Bollywood with a bit of political flare.