Bala

*ing: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam,Jaaved Jaaferi, Saurabh Shukla, Seema Pahwa

Rated: 5.5/10

Ayushmann Khurrana is known to take up projects that are different. In that sense, Bala could not have been different from the kind of films that the actor has been doing. The good part is that each character that he plays in the movie is so different from the other that it keeps the audience interested in watching his films. This is the third movie of his that has released this year after Article 15 in which he plays a cop and Dream Girl in which he plays Karamveer Singh who is good at impersonating the female voice.

In Bala, he plays Balmukund ‘Bala’ Shukla, who at the age of 25 is balding. Sound familiar? Just last week Udja Chaman had released with the same theme — the problems that men face due to baldness.

There are a few things that makes the viewers laugh and the movie different from Udja Chaman. References to Gully Boy, TikTok and the fame it brings to some and how one must try the Keto diet to lose weight that are stratigically placed in the dialogues will make one smile and find a connect. Then there is the whole impersonation that Bala is known for and his obsession with Shah Rukh Khan. One-liners like Hair loss nahi, Identity loss ho raha hai....humaara and Amitabh Bachchan Avatar Gill ke role mein kaise jee sakta hai?  makes one laugh.

But the film fails to impress for a couple of reasons. First, Bala too falls into the trap of sterotyping. While his caracter is bemoaning his baldness, he has no problems in working for a company that is selling fair cream.

Second, Khurrana’s character is vain and deceitful. Yet, the film tries to make him out as the the victim.

The redeeming factors are Saurabh Shukla plays Bala’s father, Jaaved Jaaferi, plays Bachchan bhaiya and Seema Pahwa who plays Bhumi Pednekar’s mausi. They together make the film watchable.