Bandaa Singh Chaudhary review: As I watched Bandaa Singh Chaudhary, I was transported back to the junior school plays we would put together for Independence or Republic Day. Themes as heavy as patriotism would be boiled down to the bare minimum. We were kids then who needed time to grasp it.
Nostalgia isn't always a good thing, though. Today, we have all grown up and out of that phase. The makers of this film are probably only halfway there.
( Also read: Jogi review: Diljit delivers career-best performance in riveting drama on 1984 anti-Sikh riots ) I say this because they take up a somber period- the Insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s- and together, the scripting, editing and acting department leave no stone unturned to make it unintentionally funny in parts. What is it about The story flashbacks to 1975, when Bandaa (played by Arshad Warsi ) manages to pull in a girl he likes, Lalli (played by Meher Vij), purely by stalking her everywhere. It’s particularly jarring when within a minute of them talking for the first time, the next scene cuts to their wedding night, and the very next minute- you guessed it- they become parents.
I almost thought ‘is this guy day dreaming?’ Um, no. Anyway..
.he’s living in Punjab at a time when Hindus are being asked to leave, first via warnings and then assault, in some cases even murders. Bandaa is targeted by the ‘ugravaadis’.
The village is asked to ostracize his family. But one night, his friend Tajendra (a terribly miscast Jeeve.