Bang Baaja Baaraat – What Happens When 2 Crazy Families Come Together For 1 Mental Wedding? A F#*ked Up Shaadi!
Bang Baaja Baaraat
[yasr_overall_rating]
What can be said of an Indian serial that starts with, “F#*k You!“?
Since the Indian TV roster has been infested with bad to vomit-inducing shows for so long (all thanks to Ekta Kapoor), a time of reckoning was long due. After decades of over-the-top saas-bahu drama and fake reality shows befuddling the limited reasoning of an (in)tolerant nation, the entertainment industry finally has something to appease the content-craving urban youth of India – web series.
Web series is the new aphrodisiac of the Indian youth, a section whose choices have been long ignored and cruelly subdued by the money-grubbing-content-be-damned TV networks. Less dramatic and more content-driven, web series are giving the best Indian TV shows a run for their money with fresh ideas and colourful dramatization of almost real-life situations. Bang Baaja Baaraat is one such example which succeeds in keeping the audience engaged with the same-old concept tried by the various Indian soaps, but, with better results. Oh! And did I forget to mention it’s hilariously funny?
Created by Anand Tiwari and Amritpal Bindra, and produced by Y-Films (a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films), Bang Baaja Baaraat deviates from the typical family dramas that audiences are generally used to and instead focuses on humour caused by highly Rabelaisian circumstances, which aren’t too far-fetched for us sexually-liberated, binge-watching, beer-guzzling youth of this nation.
Made along the lines of almost all other traditional Indian soap operas, what separates Bang Baaja Baaraat from the other TV shows is its ability and courage to explore the more risqué aspects of urban relationships (the Indian Television Industry generally dramatises the traditional aspects of relationships, however urban).
What happens When Pious Tradition Meets New-Age Thinking? Bang Baaja Baaraat, That’s What!
The story is, as I said, the same cake served on a different plate, but a very hysterical plate at that. Pawan Sharma (Ali Fazal) and Shahana Arora (Angira Dhar) are from very different backgrounds – one from a completely traditional family where his parents are scandalised by the mere mention of ‘love marriage’, while the other is from a family with a modern outlook, with her parents divorced and leading separate lives.. They fall in love and decide to get married, but not without their parents’ blessings. Three days before the wedding they introduce each other to their respective parents, and, all hell breaks loose!
Weddings are a big part of Indian culture, and everyone loves weddings. However, we wanted to take a fresh perspective on weddings. Therefore we deiced to create a really crazy wedding where a lot goes wrong between two dysfunctional families. The attempt was to break the typical romantic, pious and pure feeling around weddings, which is generally how they have been depicted in our cinema. But it was still important to create characters that were lovable and relatable.
Amritpal Bindra, co-creator of the show
From how the couples meet (through Tinder app) to the quasi-incestuous love triangle which the bride finds herself mixed in, the series is brilliantly developed and executed. Thanks to the yet-to-be-defined Censorship of the Internet in India, web series have the freedom to explore the sexual intimacy angle which is a strict no-no for the regular TV networks. Bang Baaja Baaraat explores this new ground with fresh and creative ideas which would have been considered too licentious and vulgar for regular television (the second episode features the bride’s bachelorette party which is filled with supposedly-concupiscent content like bikinis, dildos, urban sex-talk, quickie etc.)
Bang Baaja Baaraat – Using Sex in a Non-Sleazy Way, A First for India!
The show isn’t perfect as it never challenges reality, but, it’s better than what we’ve come to expect from Indian TV shows. The highlight of Bang Baaja Baaraat, according to this Idiot, is the range of characters that the show manages to introduce. Yes, most characters fall under the same stereotypes that we have witnessed time and again. However, the stereotypes are reimagined and uniquely brought to life without diluting the content of the series.
Sex is a taboo topic for Indians; as such, it is very important to recognise that the show uses sex without making it sleazy, something Bollywood repeatedly fails at executing. The series gets almost everything right and has been treated no less than a mainstream feature film in terms of its look and feel. The characters too are interesting and the actors portraying them showcase their acting chops competently. Seeing veteran B-list actors like Rajit Kapoor, Shenaaz Patel, Gajraj Rao and Ayesha Raza letting loose in a no-holds-barred fight between love and tradition is a sight to behold; these actors fit their respective characters like a glove.
Bang Baaja Baaraat – A Taste of What We Can Expect From a Web Series
Bang Baaja Baaraat won the Best Web Series at Indian Television Awards and was also nominated for Best Director (Comedy) for Anand Tiwari and Best Serial (Comedy). This is a big boost for the Web Series Revolution seeing how they are competing against the likes of household TV shows like Taarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma and Bhabhiji Ghar Pe Hai.
In a world of saas, bahus, saanps and makkhis… we’re super stoked to not just be recognized as the best web series on the web but also be nominated alongside the biggies of TV! Our reaction when we first heard was straight out of a soap of 3 jump reactions… It’s a small step for Y-Films but a giant leap for original digital content. And the best is yet to come. So watch out!
Ashish Patil, Head of Y-Films
Bang Baaja Baaraat will be back with its second season on YouTube soon!
Verdict of The Idiot
Idiot-o-Meter: Far Out, Man!
[yasr_overall_rating]
The Idiot’s Rating System:
4.0 – 5.0: The Dude Abides!
3.0 – 4.0: Far Out, Man!
2.0 – 3.0: Take It Easy, Dude!
1.0 – 2.0: You’re Out Of Your Element!
0.0 – 1.0: The Goddamn Plane Has Crashed Into The Mountain!
Idiot’s Corner:
Contrary to what many would likely be telling themselves, Bang Baaja Baaraat’s depiction of a strong independent woman (the bride) doesn’t allude to actual feminism, not in the least. The ability/freedom of Indian women to wear sexy bikinis, make dildo-jokes or engage in pre-marital sex isn’t what women empowerment is about, that’s the Indian Male Hypocrisy Syndrome – subjugating women (something we have successfully and unashamedly done for centuries).
If you think that’s feminism, it’s clear you don’t know what feminism means. And I’m not going to explain it to you. You can google it. To quote an old friend, “I’m not the feminist babysitter”.
The Idiot's Corner 
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