Badrinath Ki Dulhania- | Film

When the trailer for Badrinath Ki Dulhania dropped in 2017, audiences expected a typical Bollywood rom-com. With its vibrant colors, catchy music, and the reunion of the beloved Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania pair—Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt—it looked like a formulaic crowd-pleaser. And while the film delivered on the entertainment front, it surprised everyone by packing a heavy social punch beneath its glossy exterior.

Directed by Shashank Khaitan and produced by Karan Johar, the film is not just a love story; it is a commentary on gender roles, dowry, and the fragile toxicity of the male ego in small-town India.

The genius of the film lies in its refusal to romanticize toxicity. In many Bollywood films, the hero’s persistence is mistaken for love. Here, Badri starts as a classic “toxic” male—he jokes about hitting his sister-in-law, demands a dowry without thinking, and sees Vaidehi as a trophy. However, the film does not celebrate these traits. Instead, it systematically dismantles them. Film Badrinath Ki Dulhania-

The pivotal moment arrives when Vaidehi tells Badri, “Tum aadho ko lagta hai ki ladki sirf do cheezein kar sakti hai—khana aur sex. Aur woh bhi tumhari mrzi se.” (You men think women can do only two things—cook and have sex. And that too, at your command.) It’s a brutal, honest line that cuts through the film’s comedic veneer.

Badri’s journey is one of unlearning. He has to actively choose to become a better man, not for Vaidehi’s approval, but because his own worldview is flawed. This arc is what makes the film satisfying. When the trailer for Badrinath Ki Dulhania dropped

Set in Jhansi and Kota, the film introduces us to Badrinath "Badri" Bansal (Varun Dhawan), the scion of a wealthy but deeply patriarchal family. Badri is the quintessential "good boy" with a flaw: he believes that finding a wife is his only purpose in life, largely to please his oppressive father.

Enter Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt), an ambitious woman from a middle-class family who dreams of becoming an air hostess. Unlike the submissive brides Badri is used to seeing, Vaidehi is vocal, driven, and unafraid to reject a proposal that doesn't suit her aspirations. Directed by Shashank Khaitan and produced by Karan

The narrative kicks off as a cat-and-mouse chase. Badri falls for Vaidehi and pursues her relentlessly. In a lesser film, this stalking would be romanticized. But Badrinath Ki Dulhania does something clever: it acknowledges Badri’s behavior as problematic. The film spends its first half deconstructing the "stalker hero" trope that Bollywood has celebrated for decades.

Badrinath Ki Dulhania is more significant than its box office numbers. It arrived during a wave of “small-town Bollywood” films but stood out by using its commercial framework to critique the very traditions those films often romanticized. It proved that a mainstream, song-and-dance Bollywood film could openly discuss dowry death, marital rape (implied), and female ambition without becoming a heavy “art film.”

The film also solidified Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt as one of the most versatile and bankable pairs of their generation. Their ability to switch from comedy to drama within a single scene became the film’s secret weapon.

At first glance, Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) looks like a standard recipe for a Bollywood masala entertainer. You have the boisterous, small-town hero with a funny mustache, a glamorous leading lady, a scenic wedding backdrop, and a soundtrack that dominated the charts. But beneath the bright colors and catchy song “Tamma Tamma Again” lies a surprisingly sharp social commentary. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, this film is far more than just a sequel to Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania; it is a clever deconstruction of patriarchal entitlement and a powerful argument for female ambition.