Bunty Aur Babli - Movie Review
Published: June 13, 2010
Starring Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan
On the heels of their award-winning performances as an abusive thug and his suffering wife in Yuva (2004), Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerji are paired again, this time in lighter fare—a romantic comedy—playing a hen-pecked con artist and his vivacious partner in crime—and their delivery is just as strong.
Amitabh Bachchan appears with his son Abhishek for the first time in this film—and they went on to memorable onscreen collaborations in Sarkar (2005), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), Sarkar Raj (2008), and Paa (2009). Here, the senior Bachchan—a jack of all genres—plays Dashrath, a cool, crusty police detective, and he hams it up to the fullest in bomber jacket and aviator sunglasses while hot on the trail of two notorious small-town kids on a crime spree. His interaction with his son’s character, Rakesh, is a riot.
Director Shaad Ali’s previous film Saathiya (2002), which also starred Mukerji, was a serious story also about impulsive young lovers who strike out on their own, and here again, Ali creates vivid working-class characters, and his signature metaphor of train travel figures largely.
Rakesh meets Vimmi (Mukerji) in a train station after both have run away from home. They’re dreamers who want more out of life than their parents imagine for them, and they’re frustrated with the limitations of their upbringings. Believing they’re destined for bigger and better things—Vimmi wants to be Miss India and Rakesh is an entrepreneur—and delighted to discover a kindred spirit, they hit the road together. When their plans are a bust, they start scamming for money—and they have so much fun doing it, they don’t want to stop. They hilariously impersonate government officials, spiritual gurus, gangsters, and business partners to trick people into giving them free meals, hotel rooms, cars, and cash. They adopt the names Bunty and Babli and leave their initials at every crime scene as they crisscross North India at a frenetic pace and gain fame as a crime duo. Finally, they’re successful and important, as they always hoped to be.
While they start out as pals, this reckless, passionate pair inevitably falls in love. After all, they argued like an old married couple from day one—so they make it official. But once hitched, everything changes. Suddenly, Vimmi has different priorities, and they have to find a way to be true to themselves while taking responsibility for each other. But that’s not an easy thing to do with Dashrath always one step behind them.
Bunty Aur Babli is rated Must See.
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