Amygdalia's Blog

Bunty Aur Babli

Yeh world hai na world...

Bunty Aur Babli (Bunty And Babli) are the Bollywood equivalent of Bonnie and Clyde.  Both misunderstood by their families, and longing for more from life, Rakesh and Vimmi each leave home to follow their dreams.  Fate or circumstance brings them together.  Closed doors and corrupt dealings keep them together.  Frustrated after a bank manager steals his get rich scheme, Rakesh devises a plan to con the con man.  On the run, Rakesh and Vimmi become Bunty and Babli.  Thus begins an adventure that leads them from Lucknow to Delhi with many stops in between. 

         The evolving relationship between the two main characters is enchanting, despite the nefarious nature of their partnership.  Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee have a wonderful chemistry as the engaging criminal couple.  Their characters are well developed, allowing the viewer to see beyond their unlawful behavior, to the warm-hearted souls that they truly are.  Bunty and Babli charm everyone they meet, including Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dashrath Singh (played by Amitabh Bachchan).  The film has elements of Catch Me if You Can, as DCP Singh tries to track them. 

Bunty repeats the aphorism “Yeh world hai na world... Isme do tarah ke log hotey hai... (This world has two kinds of people . . . ) several times throughout the film.  It seems to have become almost a philosophy for him, in an effort, perhaps to make sense of a world that doesn’t seem to understand him. 

I was drawn to this film after watching one of the musical numbers on You Tube.  Kajra Re is pure Bollywood song and dance, and the special appearance by the stunning Aishwarya Rai is the icing on the cake.  The songs in the film are captivating and memorable, and the incongruous sight of Amitabh Bachchan rapping during the end credits was a delightful end to the experience.  One of the most delightful and characteristic aspects of Bollywood films is the way in which the musical numbers can transport the characters into totally different settings, as a means to portray a particular emotion or event.

As with most Bollywood films, it is quite long, at 170 minutes.  With non-stop action and song-and-dance numbers, I hardly noticed the time passing.  If you’ve never seen a Bollywood film, this one would be a great introduction. 

The one issue I had was the tendency of the subtitles to flash by too quickly, near the beginning of the film.  As the action began, this was much less of an issue, and did not detract from the enjoyability of the film.