The Perfect Chord

Film: Band Baaja Baraat
Cast: Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh
Direction: Maneesh Sharma
Rating: 4/5

Finally, we are offered a love story sans pretentions and pink teddy bears.
Band Baaja Baraat is a crisp romantic comedy about a sprightly girl, Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma) who teams up with a rustic wastrel called Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) to launch a business of wedding planning in the heart of North Delhi. A venture that begins on a strictly professional note takes a love-lorn turn midway; emotions are born, diffused and reborn; the business goes awry en route; and love triumphs over uncertainty - as it always does.
A good part of this story might sound familiar. The second half, in fact, is a convenient mash of Dil To Pagal Hai, Hum Tum, and believe it or not - I Hate Luv Storys too. But the beauty of the film lies purely in the totally awesome performances by the two leads, and in the attention paid to minute Delhi details such as - Chowmein udana, eating biskoots, and conducting bijjnis. The director has been careful to etch all the characters through the film with much love and detail, including the lesser-shown rock guitarist in the film who looks dismally at a Punjabi wedding scene and goes in typical fashion: "no dude, not my scene!"
Ranveer Singh is more than just commendable as a debutant who brings out the bumpkin in him perfectly. You might get the feeling he tries a tad too hard in a few scenes, but no one is complaining. Anushka Sharma steals the show though: her performance is nearly flawless, and is as perfect in masking her grief on knowing her love has no future as she is when she does the tango to the Bali Barsi number. Salim-Sulaiman deliver a reasonably foot-tapping soundtrack once again, and extra marks to the Tarkeebein track.
This film is worth a watch, despite the predictably overstretched last half of the story.