Underplayed Gems

Bala (2019)

Bala poster
Original title
बाला
Directed by
Amar Kaushik
Genre
black comedy film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 13m
Rated
UA
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 102 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A young man in Kanpur deals with premature baldness and the societal pressure it brings. The story follows his struggles with self-confidence and the judgments he faces.

light-heartedsatiricalcomedicbittersweettopicalwryupbeatsocially-conscious

What happens

Bala is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy film directed by Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan, based on an original story by Bengali film director Pavel Bhattacharjee. It stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam. Bala revolves around the protagonist Balmukund Shukla, a young man living in Kanpur who is suffering from male pattern baldness, and the story is about his lack of confidence and the societal pressure that comes with premature balding. It highlights social issues of baldness and colourism. Filming was held in Kanpur, Mumbai and Lucknow. The soundtrack album was composed by Sachin–Jigar. Bala was released in preview shows on 7 November 2019, prior to its cinema release a day later. It is a critical and commercial success, grossing ₹172 crore worldwide against a production budget of ₹25 crore. Bala was showcased in Indo-German Filmweek 2020 in Berlin on 27 September 2020. At the 65th Filmfare Awards, Bala received 3 nominations, including Best Actor (Khurrana) and Best Supporting Actress (Seema Pahwa). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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