Watched a good Hindi movie after a long time - of course with the new baby on board, forget watching the whole movie in one go but I did manage to watch the whole thing with a few interruptions... The movie in question was Band Baaja Barat - a Yash Raj movie that I didn't hear as much about compared to other films from the same banner since it lacked the fanfare that typically comes before a Yash Raj movie premiere.
I wasn't sure if I would like the film but I must say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The movie stars Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh as Shruti Kakkar and Bittu respectively. Shruti is a non-nonsense Delhi chick, a go-getter with a vision and ambition to start her own business, "Shaadi Mubarak", as a wedding planner. Bittu on the other hand, to put it mildly, is looking for his calling. Not doing very well at college, his dad wants to yank his derriere back to his hometown and have him join the family business. While crashing a Delhi wedding for good food, Bittu runs into Shruti who is the assistant to the wedding planner and he is quite smitten with her. He makes a DVD of her singing and dancing at the wedding and tries to "patao" her. Unfortunately for him, she sees through him right away and calls him out on his antics. They end up becoming friends anyway and later on start the wedding planning business together but not before she has made it amply clear that she does not believe in mixing love and business. Will "Shaadi Mubarak" succeed? Or will their professional relationship get in the way of love? Will Bittu and Shruti have their own "Happy Wedding" (shaadi mubarak)?
I loved Anushka Sharma in this movie - as an actress, she is far superior to her contemporaries like Sonam, Deepika and Katrina - I am stumped as to why she has not done better than them in terms of box office success. She believes in the role and the character so her audience does too. You completely buy her act as the smart and sassy Shruti Kakkar. Ranveer Singh does a great job as Bittu. He lacks the "hero" good looks but is a decent actor. The supporting cast is pretty adequate. I like the relationship portrayed between Shruti and her mother - they didn't spend too much time on that plot-line but did a good job with what little they did. So in a nutshell, if you are looking for a Bollywood movie that is entertaining and worth your time, Band Baaja Barat is it. Enjoy!!
