'Badhaai Ho', 2018 proves India has an audience for quality entertainment

2018 smashes everyone's notion of who the audience is and what it wants playing on its screens.

Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s Badhaai Ho is the story of a 50-something middle class couple who discover that they are expecting a baby. The horror and embarrassment this accidental pregnancy causes in their grown-up sons, neighbours, friends, et al, makes for a hilarious watch. Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao are outstanding as the Kaushiks. Neither of them is a box-office draw; the only 'star' in the film is Ayushmann Khurrana. Yet this well-written story, an estimated Rs 0.3 billion production from the Times Group’s Junglee Pictures has already raked in Rs 1.4 billion globally.  
 
About five years back a film