Band Baaja Baaraat

Plot

Bittoo and Shruti are small-time wedding planners, who start their new business straight out of college. They manage weddings for lower middle-class families, usually held in the Chandni Chowk neighbourhood of Old Delhi. Sainik Farm is the prime wedding location in Delhi where the rich and famous hold their weddings. Bittoo and Shruti convince a wealthy couple to give them their first big Sainik Farm wedding contract. The event becomes a resounding success, and the Shaadi Mubarak team celebrates late into the night. After guests have left, Bittoo and Shruti end up having a one-night stand in his bedroom.

Bittoo labels the affair a kaand (lit. "blunder"), knowing that Shruti has strict rules against workplace romance. He soon realises that Shruti does not see their affair as a strictly one-time encounter, and has started developing feelings for him instead. Bittoo starts distancing himself from her, hurting Shruti's feelings by his sudden change of demeanour. She pushes him out of Shaadi Mubarak, and Bittoo launches a rival venture called "Happy Wedding" - a literal translation of the name "Shaadi Mubarak". Without Shruti's involvement, his venture does not take off. Meanwhile, Shuti begins losing clients and vendors after multiple complaints about the quality of her latest work.

To save their respective ventures from becoming bankrupt, Bittoo and Shruti accept a joint contract for a wealthy industrialist's daughter's wedding. Expected to be a lavish, week-long affair, it will be held at an historic palace in the state of Rajasthan. Working together again, Bittoo and Shruti bring their characteristic flair to the preparations but Shruti seems distracted. Bittoo learns that she is engaged to marry a wealthy NRI, and will move soon to Dubai where she will restart Shaadi Mubarak. Seeing her slipping away from him, Bittoo confesses his feelings for her as well, claiming he was merely pushing her away since he didn't know how to react after they spent the night together. They share a kiss together and Shruti calls off her engagement.

After the Rajasthan wedding contract, Bittoo rejoins Shaadi Mubarak. As credits roll, he and Shruti are busy enjoying their own wedding, planned in typical Shaadi Mubarak-fashion.

Cast

Ranveer Singh as Bittoo Sharma

Anushka Sharma as Shruti Kakkar

Neeraj Sood as Maqsood, florist

Puru Chibber as Mika, Bittoo's best friend

Manish Choudhary as Sidhwani

Manit Joura as Sunny, cameraman

Sushil Dahiya as Brigadier Brar

Manu Rishi as Inspector

Govind Pandey as Bittoo's father

Vinod Verma as Shruti's father

Nirupama Chopra as Shruti's mother

Pushvinder Rathore as Shruti's sister

Shena Gamat as Chanda Narang, a famous wedding planner

Manmeet Singh as Rajinder Singh, caterer

Shireena Sambyal as Sonia

Production

Development

Band Baaja Baaraat marked the directorial debut of Maneesh Sharma, who had previously assisted on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008). Early media reports speculated titles like Shaadi Mubarak but Yash Raj Films clarified in that the film was still untitled. The official title, Band Baaja Baaraat, was announced in late 2010.

Casting

Anushka Sharma was given the female lead in the film, completing the three-film contract she signed to do Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), her first film. Her role was described as "challenging" by media publications prior to the film's release. Describing the way the lead characters in the film talk as "crude but cute", the actress declared that the hardest part of her job was speaking like a typical Delhi wali girl, which called for her to "talk fast, sometimes mix words and even omit words completely". Director Maneesh Sharma, with whom she's been great friends since her first film, said that the model-turned-actress was a very feisty person, and a natural actress who didn't like doing multiple takes. She described the film as "very much, a young love story set in Delhi".

The male lead was given to Mumbai-native Ranveer Singh, a complete newcomer with no prior acting or modelling experience whatsoever, who impressed producer Aditya Chopra so much that he cast him after his first audition, signing a three-film contract with the actor. Singh, who took acting classes, and hung out at Delhi University prior to shooting said about his casting "I’m the first solo hero Yash Raj is launching. It’s a huge deal for me. I don’t know how I got here. I guess I happened to be in the right place at the right time". As such, this marks the first time a film rests mainly on Sharma's shoulders, as opposed to her prior films Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Badmaash Company (2010) where she shared the screen with more experienced co-stars, Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor respectively, a fact the actress remarked upon, stating "some people will refer to Band Baaja Baaraat as Anushka Sharma’s film because they have seen me in another film before".

Filming

Filming started in Delhi on 4 February 2010, the same day the production company announcement was made. Singh was very nervous about his first day but was eventually proud that his first scene only took three takes to shoot. An 18 February article by Minakshi Saini for the Hindustan Times' entertainment supplement HT City reported that during the previous day's early morning shoot in West Delhi's Subhash Nagar, Singh's newcomer status led many to speculate on whether he was Ranbir Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey or even Riteish Deshmukh. Police officers were eventually called in to secure the set from curious onlookers, however some expressed discontentment at having to be out in the cold despite both lead actors being virtual unknowns. The film features a kiss between the lead actors, which only necessitated a single take. Other than Subhash Nagar DDA Market, locations in Delhi include Janakpuri, Delhi University, North and West Delhi, Ring Road, Mehrauli Farms and Akbar Road. Some scenes were also shot in director Maneesh Sharma's almamater, Hans Raj College in University campus. The film was additionally shot in Mumbai in March and Rajasthan in April.

The assistant directors for the film were Akshat Kapil and Rohit Philip who'd previously held the job on Aaja Nachle (2007) and Do Dooni Chaar (2010) respectively. Aseem Mishra handled the cinematography after working on such films as Contract (2008), New York (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010). The various dance sequences were choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, who has previously worked on countless films including such hits as Lagaan (2001), Devdas (2002), Veer-Zaara and Swades (both 2004). Sonal Choudhry and T. P. Abid were the film's production designers while Niharika Khan was the costume designer.

Several rumours surrounded the film's shoot, such as speculation that the lead pair were more than just friends. Early media reports alternatively titled the film Shaadi Mubarak or Shaadi Mubarak Ho, however Yash Raj Films eventually issued a press release in late April claiming that this was not the film's title, and that film was actually still untitled. The title was eventually revealed to be Band Baaja Baaraat in late July.

Lead actors Sharma and Singh got along well during the shoot, and are strongly believed to have dated and broken up before the film's release. Speaking about his co-star, Singh declared "She’s intelligent, well-read and great to hang out with. Actually, she’s pretty close to my dream girl".

Soundtrack

The soundtrack and background score for Band Baaja Baaraat were composed by the duo Salim–Sulaiman, marking another collaboration with Yash Raj Films following their work on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), with lyrics penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya in his first mainstream endeavour. The album features vocals by Sunidhi Chauhan, Benny Dayal, Shreya Ghoshal, Natalie Di Luccio, Himani Kapoor, Harshdeep Kaur, Labh Janjua, Shraddha Pandit, Master Saleem, Sukhwinder Singh, Bhattacharya, and Salim Merchant.

The soundtrack consists of nine tracks, including two remix versions. It was first unveiled on 3 November 2010 at Yash Raj Studios in Andheri, Mumbai, and was officially launched on 10 November 2010 at a promotional event held at the Reliance TimeOut store in Bandra.

Marketing and release

As with previous Yash Raj Films productions since Mohabbatein (2000), publicity design for Band Baaja Baaraat was overseen by Fayyaz Badruddin, with stills photographed by Abhay Singh and Zahir Abbas Khan. The film's official trailer and website launched on 19 October 2010, featuring the synopsis, promotional images, downloadable wallpapers, a press kit, and e-cards branded as “Band Baaj-O-Grams.” The studio expanded its digital outreach through dedicated Facebook, Twitter, and Blogspot channels, as well as exclusive video content on YouTube, including music videos for "Tarkeebein" and "Ainvayi Ainvayi".

To promote the film, lead actors Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma, along with director Maneesh Sharma, made appearances at IIT Delhi's annual festival and at the GIP Mall in Noida. However, promotions briefly drew media attention following an incident aboard Kingfisher Airlines flight IT 331 on 26 October 2010, when the actors confronted a passenger who allegedly took unsolicited photographs. The altercation was resolved without formal complaints after police intervention upon landing in Delhi.

Despite skepticism regarding its commercial prospects due to the absence of a male star and Sharma's perceived lull in popularity post her debut contract with the studio, Band Baaja Baaraat gradually built momentum through word-of-mouth and targeted promotions. The film was theatrically released worldwide on 10 December 2010, coinciding nearly two years to the day with Sharma's debut Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)—a strategic choice by the studio aiming to replicate that film's success trajectory.

Reception

Box office

Internationally, Band Baaja Baaraat had a limited release. In the United States and Canada, it grossed $43,820, while in the United Kingdom, it earned £63,200. The film's worldwide gross was approximately ₹300 million.

With a production budget of ₹130 million, the film was declared a "Hit" by Box Office India.

Critical reception

Upon release, Band Baaja Baaraat received positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 4/5 stars, commenting, "Thankfully, Band Baaja Baaraat works on every level. The writing is crisp, the execution of the material [director: Maneesh Sharma] is worthy, and the lead actors [Anushka, Ranveer] steer the film to the destination smoothly... Band Baaja Baaraat is honest, fresh, youthful, and extremely entertaining. Recommended!"

Anupama Chopra of NDTV awarded it 4/5 stars and commented, "Band Baaja Baaraat is reasonably entertaining. It's definitely the most fun you'll have in a theater this weekend." Rajeev Masand gave it 3/5 stars, writing, "Band Baaja Baaraat works because it’s invested with an earnestness that’s become increasingly rare to find at the movies... It’s a romantic comedy done correctly. Fun, but with warmth at its heart. Don’t miss it!"

Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave the film 3/5 stars and opined, "As long as you view Band Baaja Baaraat as a loving, heartfelt take on what makes Delhi go dhak-dhak, the film holds your attention. Band Baaja Baaraat engages you with its fond look at fun-loving Dilliwalas." Sonal Dedhia of Rediff.com gave it 3/5, commenting, "On the whole, Band Baaja Baaraat is a refreshing film—very different from the usual romantic comedy movies we're so used to. It is a well-made film that should connect with the audience. Give this one a chance, you won't regret it."