‘Bada Naam Karenge’ review: A fusion of sanskari values and modern ideas

Even before its blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) altered the course of mainstream Hindi cinema, the Barjatya clan’s Rajshri Productions has been known for family-friendly films extolling traditional Indian values. Rajshri’s first streaming show Bada Naam Karenge, with Sooraj R Barjatya as showrunner and Palash Vaswani as director, was bound to stick to the same template.

However, Bada Naam Karenge has some progressive elements built in, possibly to pre-empt criticism about the company’s tendency to be sanskari in an old-fashioned way, even while songs from old Rajshri hits punctuate the soundtrack.

Over the last few years, Hindi films have been set in small towns of north and central India, and have picked up issues that affect today’s generation. Bada Naam Karenge, which is out on Sony LIV¸ goes down the same path, but a more wholesome manner.

Barjatya and writers S Manasvi and Vidit Tripathi concede that modernity has reached tier-3 cities – there are gleaming cars, smooth roads, swishy shops, a windmill twirling in the distance – but at heart, people are still conservative. Marriages are arranged within the same caste. The daughter-in-law will be absorbed into the joint family structure, and the whole clan will defer to the patriarch. The social and domestic status quo will not be toppled.

Ratlam-based Anand Rathi (Kanwaljeet…

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