Badhaai Do | No Rating Movie Review |Rajkummar Rao | Bhumi Pednekar | Chum Darang | Gulshan Devaiah

Bollywood’s fixation with humor to narrate stories on taboo subjects seems to be working pretty well so far. So, it comes as no surprise to see Badhaai Do also resort to a lighter tone while highlighting an important issue of homosexuality. Directed by Harshvardhan Kulkarni, Badhaai Do revolves around the story of Shardul and Sumi played effortlessly by Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, as closeted members of the LGBT community, living together as roommates after they agree to get into a ‘marriage of convenience. The film shows how an individual’s sexual orientation defines and decides their fate in society. While Shardul, a police officer, and Sumi, a PT teacher, agree to this arrangement — referred to as a lavender marriage — to shut their families up and get rid of the constant pressure to get married, the journeys they take on with their respective partners eventually lead to several realizations about their realities. The makers deal with the subject in an extremely mature and sensitive manner, and in his attempt to sound witty, at no point does he trivialize the ordeal homosexual people go through. Badhaai Do is an important film that surely starts a conversation, more so for the families of homosexual people, which is the most important takeaway from this film.