Tony Montana reviews Bala

Just came back from watching Bala.

A few random thoughts:

I was recently watching a recent Aaj Tak interview of writer-lyricist Varun Grover. One of my key takeaways from it was his describing how he, having listened to hundreds and thousands of songs, understood from a young age what constitutes a cliche and what does not, and that is his approaching into avoiding the stereotypical while penning his songs. Watching Bala, Ayushmann’s latest content-driven film, reminded me of Varun’s casual statement. That is not to say that Bala is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. In fact it is yet another of his forays into subjects that explore small town earthiness with a “deformity” of the lead character. The storyline is straightforward and one can easily form the basic plotline from the trailer. But the film plays smart: it challenges the general perception of beauty and relies itself on well-written characters, each with a decent backstory, to propel it forward. The climax doesn’t fall prey to the “guy ending up with girl and all’s well” resolution. It’s a story written with the intent of appealing to each and every one of us. We all have our insecurities, and we wish to get rid of them by trying to eliminate their root cause. But why? asks the film. Why not accept ourselves the way we are?

Coming back to the characters, it’s a bonus that each of them shines through, most importantly Khurrana’s Bala and Yami Gautam’s Pari. The film gives Ayushmann the platform to bring his mimicry skills to the fore, and amalgamated with his natural, spontaneous charm, he delivers a superstar-like act. The film and the story almost take a backseat in portions when he’s, well, being himself, but I do not mean it in any negative sense. His impersonations and performances on the 90s Bollywood songs with Yami Gautam are delightful, and it is a joy to see the actor being completely uninhibited in front of the (TikTok and film) camera. This is his most confident performance to date, where he acts as if he’s got nothing to prove anymore.

The other interesting character is that of Yami. On the surface, she is a shallow and mean person who ditches Bala because of his premature baldness. But look beneath, and you find there’s much more to her, and the writers deserve tremendous applause for providing motivation for her actions. She is a person who’s lied to despite giving everything to her relationship, and the only thing she expected in her husband is taken away from her in the blink of an eye. “I was never good at anything else apart from looking beautiful. So if I wanted a husband who looks good, did I ask for something too much?” she blurts out in a scene. And you find yourself nodding through her justifications even in court when both come face to face. The actress gives the performance of her life in each of her scenes, and it is to her credit that the character comes alive as much was intended.

Bhumi Pednekar is sincere and confident, but again, its the well-written character of Lata that overshadows the actress. Lata doesn’t take pity on herself, is a headstrong, accomplished lawyer who is comfortable in her own skin and doesn’t let anyone affect her decisions. She gets hypersensitive when her dark skin is even hinted at, and isn’t afraid to challenge norms about women.

The film entertains and draws laughs, and has a strong climax that makes its point without being preachy. But as much as I try, I just can’t get Bhumi Pednekar’s painted, made up blackface out of my mind, making Amar Kaushik’s entire intent appear dubious and reeking of hypocrisy. If only they had found a dusky actress and practised what they preached, Bala would have gone a step ahead and become a sincere, genuine cause.