Review - Badmaash Company: Mixing business with pleasure: Funny money-making schemes & friendship

Remember the Hindi movies of the 70s? The villain would be a moneyed sleazebag whose ill-gotten gains were the result of his smuggling activities. As the decades rolled by and the Indian politico-commercial environment changed, the smuggler was relegated to the role of a side-character, often the comic relief who would explain his livelihood as ‘import-export ka business’ accompanied by a shifty-eyed look and knowing nudges from those who knew what that was a euphemism for. More than a decade later, Bollywood takes us on another tour of the psyche of this interesting character referred to as the ‘smuggler’.

Badmaash Company is a story of four people who board the express train of get-rich-quick schemes and where it takes them. A number of dubious schemes and their execution keep the audience entertained during the first half. At this juncture, I did wonder whether the director had run out of steam and if the movie would falter once the crime-gags were done.

In the second half, the story turns to the characters themselves and their relationships with each other. The movie transitioned well from witty to a somber ending. The slight Dil Chahta Hainesque note (the Badmaash Company is actually called ‘Friends & Co.’) is concluded quite neatly. By the end, it more like a coming of age story. Shahid Kapoor essays the transition from a starry-eyed youngster to a cocky, hardened man-of-the-world with subtle grace. The potential glimpsed in Jab We Met and Kaminey comes into its own with this movie.

Badmaash Company is contemporary in that the protagonist is shown in grey shades instead of the stark moralistic caricatures that were shown in movies made in 90s. Most people of this generation will be able to identify with the clash of attitudes with the earlier generation, the burning ambition and quest for fame, power and money, the disillusionment and even the peace that the characters make with each other and their choices.

Despite the multiple issues that Badmaash Company seeks to address, it is quite light and easy to watch. Real-life witticisms like ethnic jokes, pop feminism and friendly banter (digs at movie stardom dreams) keep us grinning as the story unfolds. After the long dark teatime of the cinemagoer’s soul on account of the IPL, Badmaash Company comes as a welcome shout back into the theatres.