Bollywood’s Mr. Disruptor is at it again, rewriting the rules of what the Hindi mainstream hero can dare to do on screen.
Only a couple of months ago, Ayushmann Khurrana was “Dream Girl”, the phone ”sexpert” who aces in impersonating a woman’s voice, and makes a living fulfilling fantasies of lonely men. This week, he returns as “Bala”, a 25-year old whose rapidly receding hairline sets off confident issues because he is constantly fending against rejection in a world that openly discriminates against physical flaws.
Before that brief synopsis gives you a sense of deja vu because you’ve seen “Ujda Chaman” only last week, “Bala” is a far more accomplished effort. Also, though there is a thematic likeness, comparisons would seem unnecessary between the two films because they narrate slightly different tales, owing to the different backdrops the stories are set in.