Band Baaja Baaraat (2010)

Popularity:

Down 48% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Maneesh Sharma

Writers:

Maneesh Sharma (story)
Habib Faisal (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

10 December 2010 (India)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Shruti and Bittoo decide to start a wedding planning company together after they graduate from university, but romance gets in the way of business.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Wedding Party | Wedding Planning | Wedding Planner | University

Awards:

9 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Ranveer Singh	...	Bittoo Sharma
Anushka Sharma	...	Shruti Kakkar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ranjit Batra	...	Father
Manu Rishi Chadha	...	Inspector (as Manu Rishi)
Manish Chaudhary	...	Sidhwani
Sushil Dahiya	...	Brigadier Brar
Shena Gamat	...	Chanda Narang
Andrew Hoffland	...	Tyre King
Kanksha	...	Preity
Alok Kumar	...	Assistant Manager
Shirina Sambyal	...	Sonia - Tyre King's daughter (as Shirina Singh)
Chetan Sharma	...	Younger brother
Revant Shergill	...	Santy - musician
Manmeet Singh	...	Rajinder Singh - Caterer
Neeraj Sood	...	Maqsood - Florist
Tariq Vasudeva	...	Son

Directed by
Maneesh Sharma

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Amitabh Bhattacharya		lyrics
Habib Faisal		screenplay & dialogues
Maneesh Sharma		story

Produced by
Aditya Chopra	....	producer
Yash Chopra	....	presentation producer
Ravi Sarin	....	line producer: Delhi
Sanjay Shivalkar	....	executive producer
Aashish Singh	....	executive producer
Gurpreet Singh	....	production executive

Original Music by
Salim Merchant		(music & background score) (as Salim-Sulaiman)
Suleiman Merchant		(music & background score) (as Salim-Sulaiman)

Cinematography by
Aseem Mishra

Film Editing by
Namrata Rao

Production Design by
Sonal Choudhary		(as Sonal Choudhry)
Abid T.P.		(as T.P. Abid)

Art Direction by
Aditya Kanwar

Costume Design by
Niharika Khan

Makeup Department
Vidyadhar Bhatte	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adhip Chopra	....	assistant director
Prarthana Goswami	....	assistant director: continuity
Akshat Kapil	....	chief assistant director
Abhiraj Minawala	....	assistant director
Rohit Philip	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Akshi Kapoor	....	set dresser
Jigeesha Pasricha	....	art graphics
Vasudha Patni	....	arts graphic
Rashmi Sethi	....	set designer

Sound Department
Pritam Das	....	additional sound designer
Anuj Mathur	....	sound re-recording mixer
Indrajit Neogi	....	sound designer
Dipesh Sharma	....	mixing & mastering

Special Effects by
Tushar Desai	....	colorist

Visual Effects by
Swapnil Khandagle	....	senior texture artist (as Swapnil Khandagale)
Meherzad Minbattiwala	....	digital compositor: Tata Elxsi, VCL
Kunal Rasal	....	visual effects producer
Ruchira Sharma	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Yudhisthira Behera	....	assistant camera
Sanjeev Maurya	....	camera operator
Sujit Sen	....	steadicam

Casting Department
Sanjeev Maurya	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Arun J. Chauhan	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Arun Chauhan)
Ayesha Khanna	....	costume assistant
Gurram Pandu	....	costume assistant
Maria Tharakan	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Rohan Desai	....	colorist
Rohan Desai	....	digital intermediate supervisor
Mitesh Soni	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Amitabh Bhattacharya	....	playback singer
Sunidhi Chauhan	....	playback singer: Shor Machchanna!
Suzanne D'Mello	....	playback singer: Bada Nat Khat
Benny Dayal	....	playback singer
Natalie Di Luccio	....	playback singer
John Stewart Eduri	....	composer: additional music
Shreya Ghoshal	....	playback singer
Labh Janjua	....	playback singer
Akriti Kakkar	....	playback singer: Bada Nat Khat
Himani Kapoor	....	playback singer
Salim Merchant	....	playback singer: Tere Saath Jo Lamhe
Shraddha Pandit	....	playback singer
Sonia Saigal	....	playback singer: Bhangra Pauna Nachchna (as Sonia Sehgal)
Master Saleem	....	playback singer: Band Baaja Baarat
Mika Singh	....	playback singer: Bhangra Pauna Nachchna
Sukhwinder Singh	....	playback singer
Shiraz Uppal	....	playback singer: Shor Machchanna!
Abhijit Vaghani	....	playback singer: Band Baaja Baarat

Other crew
Fayyaz Badruddin	....	publicity designer
Yash Chopra	....	presenter
Amit Dwiwedi	....	marketing manager
Sahdev Ghei	....	domestic distribution
Rajesh Malhotra	....	domestic distribution
Rohan Malhotra	....	domestic distribution
Alnoor Merchant	....	digital campaign
Vaibhavi Merchant	....	choreographer
Deepak Rawat	....	assistant publicity designer
Abhay Singh	....	publicity stills
Navmeet Singh	....	production assistant (as Navmeet Arora)

Production Companies

• Yash Raj Films

Distributors

• Jalan Distributors (2010) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Mind Blowing Films (2010) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Al!ve AG (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Yash Raj Films (2010) (India) (all media)
• Yash Raj Films (2010) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• Prime Focus (Special effects, Digital intermediate)
• Tata Elxsi Visual Computing Lab

Other Companies

• Everymedia Technologies  digital partner

Also Known As:

"B.B.B." - India (English title) (informal short title)
"Wedding Planners" - USA (literal English title)

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English | Punjabi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby Surround 7.1) | Dolby Digital EX | Dolby (Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M (2010) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Singapore:PG | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Hans Raj College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, India

Company:

Yash Raj Films

Trivia:

There was much confusion on set for peripheral crew members and curious onlookers during shooting on February 17th in Delhi due to lead actor Ranveer Singh being a complete unknown. Some thought he was Ranbir Kapoor, while others claimed he was Ranvir Shorey and some even suggested Riteish Deshmukh. Some cops brought to secure the set that chilly morning complained about having to be there in the cold despite the lead actor being a nobody and lead actress Anushka Sharma being virtually unknown as well.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Rajinder has no experience with catering when Maqsood introduces him to Shruti. However in Pankaj and Sonja's marriage, Maqsood tells Shruti that Rajinder has been catering since 7 years.

Quotes:

Bittoo Sharma:I'll love you heaps, heaps and heaps. And will take loads of love from you. What say, will you give me love?

Movie Connections:

Features Tashan (2008)

Soundtrack:

Aadha Ishq

A Nutshell Review: Band Baaja Baaraat

With Band Baaja Baarat, Anushka Sharma has completed her three picture deal with Yash Raj Films and in some way had gone full circle. In her debut film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi we first see her burst onto the screens in a pre-wedding scene - her character's, before tragedy doomed her to a hastily agreed upon marriage to Shah Rukh Khan's Surinder Singh as arranged by her father on his deathbed. Here, she plays the wedding planner, and a number of major scenes see her both fussing around and enjoying herself in the weddings of her relatives and clients, and playing a role whose profession symbolizes some major shifts in conservative mindsets where weddings are outsourced to professionals behind the scenes rather than leaving it under the hands of relatives.

And one wonders how bold the studio is in entrusting a major film to a new first time director Maneesh Sharma whose experience has come from working as an AD in other major films, and pairing the still relative newcomer Anushka opposite the complete rookie Ranveer Singh as her co-star. This risk had paid off, as the end product is something relatively refreshing and spunky, going well with the themes, look and feel for Band Baaja Baaraat which is to break mindsets, and as teenage characters, epitomized the can-do, fearless spirit of entrepreneurship, wanting to try rather than to regret later in life.

Anushka plays Shruti Kakkar, who is dead set in her ways in wanting to start her own firm Shaadi Mubarak in the wedding planning arena, and deflecting the usual route where a girl has to seek marriage after graduation and live a life that's more or less set, rote and formulaic. Fate has her chance upon the laid back Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) who is looking to stay in Delhi a little longer after graduation, otherwise at his father's insistence he has to pack up and go back to his village to continue his family's roots in running a sugarcane plantation. Like all romantic films, it's opposites attract to a certain extent with Mr Relax vs Ms Focused as she reluctantly makes him a partner in her start up, as they draft an informal pact to stay focused on their career path and keep their friendship platonic.

At least up until the Intermission where things start to spiral a little out of control as emotions run high, and you'd come to expect the entire second half of the film to run aground with the usual fights and arguments, which in some way parallels the mood of the film where a split becomes problematic, and only when they work together as a team does the magic of the film happen. Basically it's the rules that the duo set out to break in their chosen industry, and with a pact made on their friendship never treading into the romantic space, you know it's a set up since breaking and bending the rules is something they do on a daily basis with a growing business.

And this mirror is more pronounced as we start to see how materialism and the building of a career can get in the way of romance, with the tussle on demands for time taking its toil. The only spark in the second half as it plods itself to an inevitable end for a romantic film, is how sometimes we get a little callous especially in taking someone else for granted, and here we see how the female of the species is actually quite complicated when her heart is set aflutter, painting Bittoo inadvertently as the cad without feelings, and a silly boy at that when love comes knocking at his doorstep.

On the characters' professional front I would have preferred it a little more if there's some poetic justice dished out in being more direct in being competitors to their brief mentor in the business, who perceived as the best turns out nothing more than a fraud when it comes to delivering quality service. I suppose in the outsourcing business one wonders if one gets the best, or are shortchanged left right and center in the way unscrupulous business is done. This of course gives rise to a myriad of supporting characters such as Maqsood the florist (Neeraj Sood), Rajinder Singh the caterer (Manmeet Singh) and Bittoo's friend Santy the musician (Revant Shergill) to join in as small suppliers hell bent on delivering quality as a business ethic.

I've always loved Indian weddings put on screen, because that promises colour and spectacle, with lovely songs and energetic dances putting up quite a performance for an outsider like myself to witness and enjoy. Band Baaja Baaraat offers just that in large doses with the different projects the fledging Shaadi Mubarak organizes, and needless to say I was having a field day. It's bands, horns and revelry out in full force, and both leads were a delight as they breathed life into their roles as business partners turned lovers. Anushka Sharma has grown from strength to strength with each film release, and Ranveer Singh is quite the discovery, with new male Bollywood heroes being quite the rare species in recent years, and his well oiled performance here doesn't betray the fact that he's into his debut. Let's see what other films will appear over the horizon for this rookie.

Band Baaja Baaraat is that spectacle that comes highly recommended, so catch it if you can as it nears the end of its run here.