Ayushmann Khurrana’s Bala Deals With Body Shaming Through Sharp Wit And Humour

Amidst a lot of controversy over Bhumi Pednekar’s artificially dark skin, Bala released last Friday. A breezy happy film that deals with body shaming the right way!

So you have put on a little weight. Now, everywhere you- be it a family function, an office thing- people don’t forget to remind you about the weight you’ve put on. They’re always there telling you just how round you’ve become. Your confidence starts faltering. You start Googling tips to lose weight and buy all those weird equipments that promise to make you slim. There’s different diets you try, you fast a lot or even take some pills.

But, nothing works and your confidence slips a little more. Photos clicked at various places go through more than one editing app before they’re deemed perfect for Facebook or Instagram. The likes and comments are directly proportional to the boost in your worth.

Yes, body shaming. That is the topic. The society has categorised certain physical attributes and fixated their dimensions as the norms. Any deviation from these makes one feel unwanted.

Body shaming and Bala

The recent film Bala, fights this demon in a rather light, breezy and a humorous manner. From the perils of dark skin to the receding hairline along with the pressure of being presentable. All these catch up with the daily lives of the main characters played brilliantly by Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar.

Our hero is not all happy and gay. He fights his own insecurity. With falling hair, he also loses his confidence. He has his own prejudices, fails at places, lies and tries to fit in a little more.

The heroine, on the other hand is not so coy. She is vocal about this partiality around the game of melanin pigment. Never shy to speak the truth.

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And while these two struggle to keep up with the societal prejudice, Yami Gautam, the other female protagonist shows us the stark opposite side of this obsession. She represent the strata who are obsessed with looks and in her words, “Looks cannot be compromised.”

The questions the movie asks

The supporting characters are equally supportive in making this small town story as believable as possible. Dialogue writers did an exemplary job. The smart, witty lines lands in the right places and strikes the proper chords. And the timely inclusion of the important role played by TikTok is praiseworthy.

Finally, we have a film where one female protagonist does not glam up to be accepted by her love nor does anyone undergo a makeover to change themselves. Rather questions it, “Badalna hai kyun?”(Why change?)

It gives out the right message too

This movie gives the right message in the right tone and focuses on another current hot term, “self-partnered.”

Yes, one does not need any external validation to be confident to conquer the world. Some may win the world with their look, some their intelligence and other talents.

Let us accept our flaws with an open heart. The world can never laugh at us if we join in the laughter. It was an absolutely adorable watch. And would have been perfect if Bhumi’s character was not painted so artificially many shades darker, which was rather distracting.

But, as they say to err is human. We may forgive the filmmaker for this faux pass as she aces the role with much authenticity. For me, it was one happy experience.

Picture credits: YouTube

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