Free Badrinath Ki Dulhania, She Is Being Held Hostage

Posted: March 13, 2017

Badrinath Ki Dulhania badly needs a campaign to free her from this stalker who insists that he is a ‘nice guy’. As for Badrinath, get your yourself already!

Ok, first of all what is happening? When did we go back to 1995 when movies were stalker festivals for the best stalker and women were lal dupatta wali’s or all about neela dupatta, peela suit and shola hai phul jhadi hai? Women who were shown as having agency and independence soon cowered and gave in, becoming blubbering messes of sanskaar and sarees as their stalkers ‘made’ them understand with an all curing slap- their true position in life.

Are we saying that this is what the masses like and this is what brings in box office money? Then for the future’s sake, I hope Badrinath Ki Dulhania doesn’t do well so that Bollywood does not try to resurrect the stalker hero again.

So after the free Melania campaign, I propose a free Badrinath ki Dulhania campaign because clearly, a young girl has been held hostage and married off forcefully. I mean really, Badrinath, if you have to chase down your bride, gag her, put her in the boot of your car in order to get married then this is indication enough that this is not going to be a happy marriage. Singapore police, I am quite disappointed with you! You find a girl gagged and bound in a trunk and turn away when she says it is a personal matter? Can’t you see it is a classic case of domestic violence? I know for a fact that you would prosecute if you weren’t bound by the rules of Bollywood.

So if this story was called Vaidehi ki Zabardasti Shaadi, the story would be something like this. Vaidehi is an independent girl with a sense of purpose and plans for herself. She is harassed by Badrinath and his friend who take videos of her and come to her house uninvited. Badrinath also seems to have low IQ and an inflated sense of entitlement, so much so that Badrinath feels that any girl he loves should love him back because well, ‘he is a nice guy’. Strangely, he is the only person who thinks he is nice. His whole assumption that he is ‘nice’ stems from the fact that he has not yet beaten Vaidehi.

Vaidehi Trivedi, this young spunky girl needs to be freed and she needs a support group and possibly counselling as she herself says that more than love, ‘respect is important in a relationship’ and both of them don’t respect each other. But there is a difference in where this disrespect stems from; he doesn’t respect her as a human being with her own agency and she does not respect him because he tries to force himself on her at every turn possible while maintaining the trite cliche that he is a nice guy.

The trailer itself makes the case; while on one hand he says he is nice because he has not held her hand and pulled her, he basically throws her around. Mr. Badrinath, you are not a nice guy! Get over it.