Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan are reuniting for the third time for Shashank Khaitan’s Badrinath Ki Dulhania.  Story begins as a cute sweet love story between a Jhansi boy and a Kota girl, but the director understands the current tide of films that celebrate powerful, liberated women, so it transforms into a progressive story before turning cute-sweet again.

Badrinath Bansal (Varun Dhawan) is your gym-type boy-next-door. Slightly outspoken but mostly lovable. He may remind you of Govinda of the early ‘90s: Scheming, harmless, quick-witted and conventional. He belongs to a family that suffocates under his dominating father Amarnath Bansal’s (Rituraj Singh) thumb. Badrinath’s prime duty is to collect debt on behalf of his wealthy, patronising father.

Bansal’s heart skips a beat in a chance encounter with Vaidehi (Alia Bhatt) at a wedding. She is an ambitious, career-oriented woman who’s nursing a broken heart. Once bitten, twice shy, she isn’t looking for a healing touch, especially from another suitor.

Bhatt tries to make up for what the screenplay fails to bring out with her dialogues and pauses. She emerges as a confident woman who chooses respect over love. She doesn’t mince her words and says it in as many words: That love is nothing without respect.

Bhatt steals the show, again.

On the other hand, Dhawan seems to be highly influenced by Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar’s popular image: Be nice to the girl, but rest assured that she will accept you sooner or later. It’s like Kapil Sharma’s show where you laugh at his jokes targeting Sumona but also worry about its implications.

Discrepancies in screenplay don’t help either. In order to keep up a fast pace, the story hops locations. But Badrinath Ki Dulhania remains the breeding ground of love between its two leads. It’s a Dharma film after all.

On second thoughts, it works in favour of the film because of Dhawan and Bhatt’s sparkling chemistry. Their camaraderie is visible in the songs, especially in the new-age rendition of Tamma Tamma Loge, which for a change, sounds as foot-tapping as the original.  Still, Badrinath Ki Dulhania has its moments, especially the comic ones. Dhawan and Vaid show impeccable  timing, but overall the film belongs to Alia Bhatt.

Source: hindustantimes.com