When Badhaai Ho was released in 2018, it was a breath of fresh air in Bollywood—it was the first ‘ Bollywood’ film to combine comedy with social relevance. Badhaai Ho was directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma and produced by Junglee Pictures. Badhaai Ho is about a middle-aged couple, Jeetender “ Jeetu” Kaushik (Gajraj Rao) and Priyamvada “ Priya” Kaushik (Neena Gupta), who become parents and embarrasses their grown-up son, Nakul (Ayushmann Khurrana), in the process. While Badhaai Ho is a comedy, it also attempts to deal with social and generational issues in family structures in India.
For Ayushmann Khurrana, Nakul was yet another role in a socially progressive and unconventional film. This was also in line with the sorts of films he had previously acted in, which included Vicky Donor and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. The Khurrana stereotype is that of a Bollywood actor who is unconventional and fights to keep his ‘ niche’ during the pressures of Bollywood. This was evident in Nakul’s character, who was the son trying to balance love for the family and shame for the family in public.
The Real Faces Behind the Characters
More than acting, the role played by Neena Gupta was shaped by her own experience. Gupta has had her own story of defiance, resilience, and reinvention. She was once one of the leading stars of 80s and 90s. After a long hiatus during which she focused on family, she made a triumphant return with a series of performances. Her portrayal of Priyamvada, a woman unapolegtic about her desires and living her life on her own terms, resonates most with Gupta.
The role played by Rao as Jeetu, also shaped the character with authenticity. After years in theatre and supporting roles, he had played several father figures. In interviews, he explained how the roles captured the essence of middle class Indian men, negotiating modern family expectations, in silence, dignity, and humor.
Humor Meets Cultural Reality
What makes Badhaai Ho more than just a comedy is how it weaves into various cultural and emotional facets. Conversations pertaining to sexuality, age, and family tend to be shrouded in silence in India. Having a late-in-life pregnancy and all the associated embarrassment, the ensuing societal gossip, and the age-old-inter and intra-generational tensions gives the film a unique lens to work with with. All of India, from the metro’s small towns, was laughing while considering their own biases and judgments.
Fan discussions on various platforms focused on the universality of the embarrassment Nakul goes through, and the consequent societal norms relating to age, gender, and propriety. Badhaai Ho served as a cultural reference point to a family’s conversations on acceptance and living life unabashedly.
Behind the Camera: Crafting Subtle Comedy
Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma aimed to interlace comedy with realism, as it was crucial to maintain the narrative’s plausibility and not let it descend into farcical comedy. In the crew’s anecdotes, word is that Sharma was very adamant on improvisation with actors, particularly Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta, who very seamlessly incorporated comic timing that the narrative and scenes in the film needed.
There is also an effort to capture the nuances of the middle-class milieu the family inhabits. The Kaushik family house, where most of the action takes place, was designed to capture the lived-in quality of an upper middle-class Delhi home. Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s camera work captured warm tones and intimate framings that allowed the audience to feel like a fly on the wall in the Kaushik family home.
Things You Might Have Missed
While the humorous performances in the film stood out, the production was also underpinned by a variety of other stories. For example, Ayushmann Khurrana was said to have interacted with younger fathers and middle-aged parents, with an effort to capture the softer nuances like nervous laughter, and the peculiar middle-class closeness and awkwardness of conversations around sex and privacy. Neena Gupta paid great attention to her costumes, to ensure that her outfits were both confident and relatable at the same time, a duality that deepened the character Priyamvada.
There was also a casual rhythm to the dialogues that was improvised on the spot, creating a familial quality. This was made possible by the off-screen interactions of the lead pair, which were designed around the Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta’s extensive rehearsals, where they fine-tuned the comic and emotional passages of the scripts.
Audience Fever and Media Buzz
Upon release, Badhaai Ho became a sleeper hit, drawing audiences across demographics. The film was praised for its humor and heart in equal measure, while audiences appreciated its relatability. In India, it generated a significant amount of media attention not just for the film, but for the societal issues it triggered. From late-night talk shows to social media, the conversations about the film’s taboo subject matter were integral to its popularity, alongside its performances.
Social media memes featuring Nakul and the rest of the family performed and having the film’s dialogue celebrated embarrassment. It became a part of conversation, for, young couples, and educators, it was about social norms in the family and generational gaps in the family.
Enduring Badhaai Ho
What makes Badhaai Ho, enduring is the synergy between its narrative and real life journeys of its characters. Khurrana, Gupta, and Rao enriched their roles, drawn from their own lived experiences, and made, what could have been a simple comedy, deeply meaningful. Off-screen, improvisation and subtle production choices, in addition to dedication, shaped the film a resonant expression of humor, empathy, and social critique.
This cinematic experience is both entertaining and meaningful within a cultural context. Badhaai Ho is an embodiment of the seamless blending of reel life embarrassments and the live authentic embarrassments.