Badho Bahu Review: This Physically And Mentally Strong Badho Will Have Your Interests Roused Up
Show Title: Badho Bahu
Channel: &TV
Timing: Monday to Friday 9:30 pm
Badho Bahu is &TV’s new prime time show. The show is about an obese girl and her fight against all those who think that she can never find a good loving husband for herself. This strong girl is out in the bad world with nothing but her faith in Lord Shiva. Now, how will Lord Shiva protect his devotee and find her a good groom is to be found out through the course of the show.
Badho Bahu (&TV) (2016)
Episode 1
A lady is in a stable checking on the cows and is rambling about her daughter Komal/Badho (Rytasha Rathore). Badho is seen pumping a hand pump to help a group of women fill water. The women are amazed at the strength and speed with which Badho pumps water. Badho proudly tells them she is fasting today which is why she is slightly slow or else she can easily pump faster than that.
Badho’s mother removes a pot of milk from her daughter-in-law Payal’s bucket and asks Payal if she has seen Komal/Badho. Badho’s mother tells her that the milk is to be offered to Lord Shiva so that Badho can break her fast. Payal asks her mother-in-law the use of all the fasting since Badho has observed this fast 16 times already, but it has not proven fruitful as yet (Since Badho still hasn’t found a suitable groom for herself).
Badho’s mother once again asks, Payal if she has seen Badho. She tells her that she has sent Badho to fill water from the hand pump. Her mother is angry because despite having a motor at home Payal has sent her sister-in-law to fill water from the hand pump. But Payal justifies that it’s for Badho good as some strenuous work will help her lose weight.
Badho has been pumping for the past half an hour and finally the women at the hand pump are done filling water. Badho finally places her own buckets under the handpump when an old lady holding two buckets walks up to the hand pump. Badho asks why an old lady like her has come to fill water instead of sending her daughter-in-law. The old lady dolefully replies that her daughter-in-law ensures that she is always busy with some work and doesn’t even let her play with her grandchildren. Badho pities the old lady and balances the four buckets (two her own and two the old lady’s) with a bamboo on her shoulder and carries it for the old lady. Women around the village look at her in amazement as she smilingly carries four buckets full of water on her shoulders effortlessly. (This scene is a little funny because as she walks with the buckets swinging on the bamboo. Now, how can a bucket full of water swing so easily?) On reaching her home, the lady sees that her buckets are empty, so Badho fills the lady’s buckets with the water left in her own bucket.
A mausi (maternal aunt) has come to visit Badho’s family to invite them for her daughter Rinky’s engagement. Payal and mausi secretly mock Badho for her ever-increasing weight and that she can be used to do all the work at the wedding home so that she can reduce some weight. Payal agrees to the bargain of sending Badho to do the work in exchange of half-kilo ghee.
Payal sends Badho way too early to mausi’s house saying that wedding houses are the best places for old women to find brides for their son. She tells Badho that since she has just broken her fast the day will be lucky for her and that she should go to mausi’s house right away. Badho is convinced and leaves excitedly hoping to apply mehndi on her hands.
At mausi’s house Badho is ill-treated by the to-be-bride Rinky but she ignores it and gets to work that the mausi asks her to do on the pretext that working in a marriage house is lucky for an unmarried girl. Badho completes all the work and runs to apply mehendi on her hands.
Mausi tells Payal that Badho is very useful and that she did a lot of work. Payal asks mausi to keep the other end of the bargain and pay the price promised in lieu of Badho’s services. Instead of half-kilo she hands Payal a few grams of ghee. Payal looks unhappy but mausi lists all the things that Badho damaged and tells her she deducted the remaining quantity as compensation. Payal accepts the ghee and gives it to her son to keep it at home.
A pandit visits mausi’s house and is instantly swarmed by women. Mausi tells Payal that the pandit is very popular for setting up successful marriage alliances. She tells her that he can get any kind of a girl married irrespective of her looks, colour, height, or weight. Badho’s mother overhears this conversation with hope gleaming in her eyes.
The pandit then asks for the function to begin while Payal is standing contemplating. She is now hopeful that maybe this pandit can help find a good groom for Badho.
As Badho sits to get mehndi applied on her hands, mausi sends Badho to call her other daughter Pinky from her room. Pinky is busy grooming in her room while her friends are admiring her beauty stating how guys in their village have been going crazy after her. When they see Badho enter the room, they start mocking her saying that she will have to marry a road roller to match her size. Badho pays no heed to them as she is awestruck looking at Pinky look so beautiful in her attire. She asks Pinky to be ready for the function which will commence within a few minutes and leaves. Pinky however, seems more interested in catching up with a wrestling match on TV. She cannot afford to miss the match for anything as it involves her favourite wrestler Lucky (Prince Narula). She switches on the TV and the announcer is announcing wrestler Lakha Singh Arawat’s name. Pinky and her friends swoon over Lucky’s name. Lucky pins his opponent within a few minutes and is declared winner of the match.
Badho once again sits with the mehndi artist to apply on her hands when the to-be bride Rinky scolds her telling that she doesn’t need to apply mehndi as there is a lot of work to do in the house. Badho feels insulted and retorts saying that she isn’t saying anything because she is the bride or else she would have smashed her face. Payal intervenes and takes Badho to meet the pandit. The sly pandit tells them that he can get Badho married but will charge Rs. 10,000 for the task. Payal is shocked to hear the amount to which he explains that every boy in this village knows of her so no one will agree to marry her. He will have to put in extra efforts and look for a boy from another village as no other normal guy will willingly marry her for which it will cost them at least Rs. 12,000. Badho is infuriated and counter-attacks the pandit. She asks him what exactly is wrong with her. She isn’t a delicate darling like the other girls. She can do all the house chores alone and knows every work that a woman should know then why wouldn’t a sane man want to marry her? Pandit is angry at her retaliation and challenges Badho in front of everyone saying that he will now wait and see who manages to get her married. She replies that her Lord Shiva will get her married and that He will not let her fasts go in vain and she walks off. She slumps in a corner across the road and starts weeping silently.
Also Read: What Is Wrong With Indian Television And 4 Lessons It Can Learn From Korean Shows
First Episode First Impression
I do not like shows with a rural setup. I have nothing against it but since it is not relatable to me, it does not appeal to me in any way. Badho Bahu surprisingly looked very interesting. It’s evident from the show’s promo that it is a story of a wrestler getting into a forced marriage with a woman he doesn’t love mostly because of her appearance. Though set up in a village, the show has a fresh appeal and the plot is interesting.
What looked nice?
Badho! She looked nice. Naive, helpful yet feisty, Badho embodies all the qualities of an ideal TV serial heroine. Rytasha Rathore looks good as the overweight village girl who has that spark in her to take on anybody who will trouble her unnecessarily. Her firm faith in her beloved deity Lord Shiva will take her places and help her fight all the negativity around her. The overall concept is similar to that of Dum Lagaa Ke Haisha (hindi movie starring Ayushmaan Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar) but it is not the same. Prince was not shown fully in the first episode but the pre-cap shows his grand entry in the next episode. From the promos, Prince and Rytasha look good together.
What did not look nice?
Supporting cast! For some reason, the supporting cast seemed to over-act. Except for Payal, all the other cast members looked like amateurs. Especially, the two evil sisters Rinky and Pinky looked like some vamp from the 70’s. I hope the supporting cast bucks up before it is too late.
For me, Badho Bahu looks good. I like the lead Badho. I like the fresh and unconventional pairing of Rytasha and Prince. I like the plot of a forced marriage leading on to love between the pair. Everything about this show gives a good vibe. I hope it lives up to my expectations.
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