Nov. 07, 2019|India|133 Min.|Not Rated
Genre: Bollywood;Comedy;Romance
Description: The movie “Bala,” released in 2019, follows the story of Balmukund “Bala” Shukla, a man struggling with premature baldness in his late twenties. The film begins in Kanpur in 2005, where 14-year-old Bala, proud of his hair, mocks a bald teacher. He borrows notes from Latika Trivedi, a studious student, and passes them as his own to impress Shruti, a fair-skinned girl. When Latika exposes his deception, Bala insults her for her dark complexion, highlighting society’s fixation on beauty and fair skin.
Fourteen years later, Bala works as a salesman for fairness creams and performs as a nightclub comedian. Struggling with his baldness, he blames his father, Hari, for passing on the baldness gene. Hari gifts him a wig, boosting Bala’s confidence. He reconnects with his childhood crush, Pari Mishra, a fair-skinned model, and they plan to marry. Before the wedding, Bala sends her a text revealing his baldness, but she never receives it. Assuming her acceptance, they proceed with the marriage.
Meanwhile, Latika faces her challenges as prospective suitors reject her due to her dark skin. Rohan, an NRI settled in Australia, is initially attracted to her but the meeting falters when his mother comments on her complexion. Later, Latika discovers Bala created a fake Instagram profile with edited pictures of her, adding to her struggles.
The film explores societal beauty standards, self-acceptance, and the complexities of relationships.
Cast director: Amar Kaushik
Cast actor: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Yami Gautam, Saurabh Shukla, Javed Jaffrey, Seema Pahwa, Abhishek Banerjee, Dheerendra Kumar, Sachin Chaudhary, Sunita Rajwar
Original name: बाला