{"id":826,"date":"2016-07-15T18:40:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T18:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=826"},"modified":"2016-07-15T18:40:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T18:40:15","slug":"badrinath-ki-dulhania-alia-bhatt-varun-dhawan-shah-rukh-khan-ddlj-kajol-bollywood-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=826","title":{"rendered":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p><\/div>

here\u2019s a scene in Shashank Khaitan\u2019s <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i> where Varun Dhawan\u2019s Badrinath Bansal and Alia Bhatt\u2019s Vaidehi Trivedi get really really drunk. In that moment, the two are reminiscent of Bollywood\u2019s most iconic pair: Raj and Simran from <\/span>Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge<\/span><\/i>. While in <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i>, the point of the scene was to set up that Simran was physically safe with Raj, in <\/span>Badrinath…<\/span><\/i>, it is to establish Vaidehi\u2019s emotional safety with Badri. What follows is a casual yet arresting role-reversal from <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i>, where a dejected Badri proceeds to tell Vaidehi how he has to go home and marry someone he\u2019s never met, in almost the same words that Simran used back in the day.<\/span>\n\nUnlike his first outing <\/span>Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> where Khaitan\u2019s <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i> overtones were evident, in <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i>, he\u2019s rather judicious. There\u2019s a babuji modelled on Amrish Puri in the film, who is a staunch believer in arranged marriages \u2013 but in a tweak on this familiar trope, he is the hero\u2019s father. Then there is Vaidehi, the girl with a past, while Badri is the virgin. Similar to <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i>, much of <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i> is spent on the boy chasing the girl who refuses to take him seriously. Khaitan tasks Badri with the additional quest of earning Vaidehi\u2019s respect. <\/span>\n\nMuch of <\/span>DDLJ\u2019<\/span><\/i>s iconic status rests on the lead pair of the film. It was Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol\u2019s innocent yet passionate romance that shouldered the predictable plot to box-office domination. The two brought out the best in each other, in the same way Varun and Alia feed off each other\u2019s infectiously comfortable presence as they delve deep into their characters in <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\n\nAs Badri, the illiterate entitled brat, Varun Dhawan channels brashness, vulnerability, nonchalance, and comic timing impeccably. For her part, Alia is sincere and flawless as the ambitious dulhania with a mind of her own. Together, they light up the screen with their effortless camaraderie. In their third outing together after <\/span>Student of the Year<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i>, Varun and Alia appear more attuned to each other and the familiarity shines through in their performances. Khaitan tries consciously experimenting with the setting and the plot to differentiate <\/span>Badrinath…<\/span><\/i> from <\/span>Humpty Sharma…<\/span><\/i>, but it is only his lead actors who bring about a fresh zing to the film.<\/span>\n\n

Unlike Raj, whose rogue-ish idiocies could more or less be excused, Badri isn\u2019t consistently likeable.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nTake for instance, the small scene in the second half, where Badri and Vaidehi share a tender moment gazing at each other, their eyes full of longing. They let their gaze stay for a while before looking away with flushed cheeks. They\u2019re both inebriated and madly attracted to each other. No words are exchanged, but everything is conveyed. It\u2019s one of those scenes every Bollywood rom-com has exploited to the hilt and yet, watching Varun and Alia bring an endearing intensity to the moment makes it seem like nothing you\u2019ve seen before. If <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i> is anything to go by, the Varun-Alia coupling is easily Bollywood\u2019s next SRK-Kajol.<\/span>\n\nYet, it is this ambition, this desperate need to be considered this generation\u2019s <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i>, that proves to be <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i>\u2019s undoing. Three years ago, Khaitan failed in trying to recreate the classic in <\/span>Humpty Sharma…<\/span><\/i>, depending heavily on an unoriginal plot and lazy storytelling. In 2017, he shows a little more promise, riding on the sparkling coupling, but confuses it with the film\u2019s mishandling of social issues such as discrimination against the girl child, patriarchy, dowry, and women\u2019s empowerment. <\/span>\n\nTo preach these progressive values, the film utilises more than a few regressive techniques such as physical intimidation and stalking to drive home its point, before making the hero realise the error of his ways. Unlike Raj, whose rogue-ish idiocies could more or less be excused, Badri isn\u2019t consistently likeable. His violent tantrums \u2013 one of which leads to him abducting Vaidehi \u2013 are difficult to sidestep. And then<\/span> there are Vaidehi\u2019s constant justifications of his dangerously violent behaviour. It sets out to be a portrayal of how men in small town India behave: If in <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i>, Raj redefined the aspirational lover of the 1990s, Badri is a poster-boy for how every lover should not behave. <\/span>\n\nWhat propelled <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i> forward was a feeling that even though the lead characters were young, na\u00efve, and not ready for the world, they were undeniably completely right for each other. <\/span>Badrinath Ki Dulhania<\/span><\/i> falters in its path in nailing this sentiment. <\/span>\n\nYou\u2019re left wondering on more than one occasion if Badri is really the right choice for Vaidehi. Wouldn\u2019t her life be much better if he were out of it? It is impossible to doff your hat to a classic when there is such a serious character flaw in one of the protagonists. Or then again, maybe we\u2019re allowed to have only one <\/span>DDLJ<\/span><\/i> in a lifetime. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[1096,1464,141,1465,19,1035,1466,152,1467,1161],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-alia-bhatt","tag-badrinath-ki-dulhania","tag-bollywood","tag-dilwale-dulhania-le-jaenge","tag-india","tag-kajol","tag-romance","tag-shah-rukh-khan","tag-stalking","tag-varun-dhawan"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Poulomi Das\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Poulomi Das\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Poulomi Das\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\"},\"headline\":\"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826\"},\"wordCount\":853,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1489230716.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alia Bhatt\",\"Badrinath ki dulhania\",\"bollywood\",\"Dilwale Dulhania Le jaenge\",\"India\",\"Kajol\",\"romance\",\"Shah Rukh Khan\",\"Stalking\",\"Varun Dhawan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pop Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826\",\"name\":\"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1489230716.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\"},\"description\":\"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1489230716.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1489230716.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.arre.co.in\\\/?p=826#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679\",\"name\":\"Poulomi Das\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Poulomi Das\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=103\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ","description":"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ","og_description":"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Poulomi Das","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ","twitter_description":"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Poulomi Das","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826"},"author":{"name":"Poulomi Das","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679"},"headline":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ","datePublished":"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826"},"wordCount":853,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","keywords":["Alia Bhatt","Badrinath ki dulhania","bollywood","Dilwale Dulhania Le jaenge","India","Kajol","romance","Shah Rukh Khan","Stalking","Varun Dhawan"],"articleSection":["Pop Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826","url":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826","name":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-15T18:40:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679"},"description":"Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it\u2019s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=826#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc6b159b4669ddf75eae5f2b536d679","name":"Poulomi Das","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf0b507b562a532eccd19be07aac58ddce2a6079eb4ea28e6afef54b07f4cf9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Poulomi Das"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=103"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1489230716.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}