Some movies come naturally color coded. Dil Chahta Hai
is famously blue, with the color appearing prominently in nearly every
scene, giving the film a sense of visual continuity and a cool, intimate
atmosphere. Kal Ho Naa Ho uses white in much the same fashion. And Bunty Aur Babli
(2005) is filled with different shades of pink, from soft pink to
pastel pink to that shade you normally only see during reruns of Miami Vice. There’s no cool, intimate atmosphere here; all the pink gives the film a tremendous sense of energy.
Bunty’s hero is Rakesh (Abhishek Bachchan), the traditional small town boy with big dreams. His father (Raj Babbar), a ticket collector on the railway, wants Rakesh to follow in his footsteps, but Rakesh wants to be an entrepreneur, and after a bitter argument, he slips out in the night to seek his fortune.
Meanwhile, Vimmi (Rani Mukherjee) is the traditional small town girl with big dreams. Vimmi is beautiful and she knows it, so she plans to become a model. Her parents, on the other hand, have already selected a suitable boy for her, and tell her it’s time to put aside her girlish dreams, settle down, and get married. Instead, Vimmi slips out in the night to seek her fortune.
Rakesh and Vimmi make their separate ways to Lucknow, and promptly fail. Rakesh’s investment scheme is rejected by a low-level functionary, while Vimmi finds that she is two days late to register for the Miss India contest. At the train station, the disconsolate pair finally meet, and on a whim, decide to try their luck in Kanpur.
Kanpur isn’t much of an improvement, though. Vimmi still can’t register for Miss India; she’s from the wrong district, and while the registration clerk is willing to overlook that fact, he wants certain . . . favors in return. And when Rakesh takes his scheme to the head office of the investment company, he finds that they’ve already been given the idea, by the same low level functionary that rejected him in Lucknow. Rather than admit defeat, though, Rakesh and Vimmi decide to try Mumbai. And in order to finance the trip, they team up to con the functionary into investing in a fictional TV station. And they like it so much, they keep conning people all the way to Mumbai. Soon “Bunty” and “Babli” are folk heroes, famous for scamming the rich while giving to the poor. And when they finally reach Mumbai, they decide to keep going; Bunty and Babli have achieved the fame that Rakesh and Vimmi had dreamed of.
Soon enough (this being the kind of film it is) the pair have a nemesis: DCP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), a surly, cynical cop who is naturally the only man who could possibly catch the daring duo, who have moved on to bigger and better scams. ("I can’t believe someone is selling the Taj Mahal!” one dupe cheerfully exclaims. And Rakesh replies, “I can’t believe someone is buying it.") As long as the pair stick to scamming people who deserve it, they’re seemingly uncatchable. But when they break from the formula . . .
Bunty Aur Babli is a very simple film, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a dumb movie. It’s not dumb, it’s just purely focused on entertainment. There’s no violence, very little melodrama, and the romance is assumed rather than being a major focus of the film. Instead, we have a giddy thrill ride form beginning to end. The scams are fun, the three leads display a great chemistry, the songs have a ferocious energy to them, Aishwarya shows up to look gorgeous for five minutes, and they include the single finest Sholay joke I have ever seen on film (and I’ve seen a lot of them.)
Bunty Aur Babli is fun. Just don’t watch it too fast, or you’ll get an ice cream headache.
Bunty’s hero is Rakesh (Abhishek Bachchan), the traditional small town boy with big dreams. His father (Raj Babbar), a ticket collector on the railway, wants Rakesh to follow in his footsteps, but Rakesh wants to be an entrepreneur, and after a bitter argument, he slips out in the night to seek his fortune.
Meanwhile, Vimmi (Rani Mukherjee) is the traditional small town girl with big dreams. Vimmi is beautiful and she knows it, so she plans to become a model. Her parents, on the other hand, have already selected a suitable boy for her, and tell her it’s time to put aside her girlish dreams, settle down, and get married. Instead, Vimmi slips out in the night to seek her fortune.
Rakesh and Vimmi make their separate ways to Lucknow, and promptly fail. Rakesh’s investment scheme is rejected by a low-level functionary, while Vimmi finds that she is two days late to register for the Miss India contest. At the train station, the disconsolate pair finally meet, and on a whim, decide to try their luck in Kanpur.
Kanpur isn’t much of an improvement, though. Vimmi still can’t register for Miss India; she’s from the wrong district, and while the registration clerk is willing to overlook that fact, he wants certain . . . favors in return. And when Rakesh takes his scheme to the head office of the investment company, he finds that they’ve already been given the idea, by the same low level functionary that rejected him in Lucknow. Rather than admit defeat, though, Rakesh and Vimmi decide to try Mumbai. And in order to finance the trip, they team up to con the functionary into investing in a fictional TV station. And they like it so much, they keep conning people all the way to Mumbai. Soon “Bunty” and “Babli” are folk heroes, famous for scamming the rich while giving to the poor. And when they finally reach Mumbai, they decide to keep going; Bunty and Babli have achieved the fame that Rakesh and Vimmi had dreamed of.
Soon enough (this being the kind of film it is) the pair have a nemesis: DCP Dashrath Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), a surly, cynical cop who is naturally the only man who could possibly catch the daring duo, who have moved on to bigger and better scams. ("I can’t believe someone is selling the Taj Mahal!” one dupe cheerfully exclaims. And Rakesh replies, “I can’t believe someone is buying it.") As long as the pair stick to scamming people who deserve it, they’re seemingly uncatchable. But when they break from the formula . . .
Bunty Aur Babli is a very simple film, but it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a dumb movie. It’s not dumb, it’s just purely focused on entertainment. There’s no violence, very little melodrama, and the romance is assumed rather than being a major focus of the film. Instead, we have a giddy thrill ride form beginning to end. The scams are fun, the three leads display a great chemistry, the songs have a ferocious energy to them, Aishwarya shows up to look gorgeous for five minutes, and they include the single finest Sholay joke I have ever seen on film (and I’ve seen a lot of them.)
Bunty Aur Babli is fun. Just don’t watch it too fast, or you’ll get an ice cream headache.
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