CAST: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahwa

DIRECTION: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

GENRE: Romantic Comedy

DURATION: 2 hours 2 minutes

STORY

Bitti Mishra (Kriti) is a bohemian Bareilly girl who falls deeply in love with Pritam Vidrohi(Rajkummar) an author because she admires his progressive way of thinking. Finding him though proves to be as hard as looking for a needle in the haystack. So Bitti seeks the help of the local printing pressowner, Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann) on her journey of love.

REVIEW

BKB is a hooray moment for Hindi cinema. This romcom set in the North Indian town of Bareilly, breaks the shackles of Bollywood‘s continued dependence on cardboard cuts and instead introduces you to real people, whose charms are infectious. The writers Nitesh Tiwari (director and writer of the much-acclaimed blockbuster Dangal )and Shreyas Jain have put together a sweet, identifiable crowd-pleaser that excels in the writing, direction, acting and music departments. As far as performances go–Rajkummar Rao is the scenestealer.

Whether he’s the stammering sari salesman or the gali ka gunda, he is magnetic. Kriti Sanon makes for a lovable Bitti and beti, while Ayushmann goes from white to grey so effortlessly you stay invested in him. Pankaj Tripathi and Seema Pahwa are also in fine fettle and you’re actually tempted to ask them for an encore. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari who won notices for her directorial debut Nil Battey Sannata, is in top form again. She puts heart into this comedy and the flawless writing makes it that much more effective.

Every time you guffaw at the antics of the lead and supporting cast, you are reminded that there is so much humour in our daily routine which we have forgotten to stop and savour.

Coming back to the protagonist, Bitti, she’s the only daughter of a sweetmeat shop owner (Pankaj) and his conservative wife (Seema). Her dad raises her like a son, even allowing her the occasional puff and swig. In sharp contrast, her regular small-town Ma, who only wants to see her daughter hitched. On a train journey, Bitti accidentally ends up devouring a novel titled Bareilly Ki Barfi and here comes a twist in the tale. Not only does she identify with the lead character of the book, she also desperately seeks the author.

She starts spending a lot of time with Chirag, they become besties, too, and he promises to help find her Pritam-pyaare.