Badhaai Do 2022

Shardul Thakur [Rajkummar Rao] is a closeted police officer stationed at a women’s precinct in Dehradun, living a quiet, tightly controlled life that masks a more complex reality. When Suman Singh [Bhumi Pednekar]—a physical education teacher at Wynberg Allen School—visits the station to report a stalker, the encounter becomes a turning point. The stalker had catfished her on a lesbian dating app and threatened to expose her sexuality, forcing Suman into a dangerous position. After Shardul roughs up the aggressor, the man reveals Suman’s secret, setting off a chain of decisions that will test family, desire, and duty.

A few days later, Shardul proposes a drastic solution to appease intrusive relatives: they should marry even though they are strangers. To placate expectations from their families, Suman agrees, and the newlyweds return from their honeymoon to a life that looks like a conventional heterosexual marriage. They move into police quarters and begin presenting themselves as a couple to the world around them, hiding the realities of their identities.

The arrangement is complicated when Suman begins a relationship with Rimjhim [Chum Darang], a woman who works at a medical clinic and has faced rejection from her own family after coming out. Rimjhim moves into the couple’s apartment, and to protect the lie, they tell everyone that Rimjhim is a cousin. As their own feelings deepen, Suman reveals her long-held wish to have a child, adding another layer of pressure to their already fragile arrangement.

Complications escalate when Shardul is assigned to patrol a Pride protest—a gay “wedding” that brings him into contact with Guru Narayan [Gulshan Devaiah], a renowned out lawyer who is openly gay. The two men begin dating, and Shardul introduces Guru to both Suman and Rimjhim, further blurring the lines between their public personas and private identities.

During Diwali, Shardul’s family presses for a grand conclusion to the couple’s lack of children. He lies to his brother-in-law that Suman is infertile, while his mother moves in with them to supervise “their” relationship. Rimjhim temporarily moves out, and Suman fabricates a new version of the story, telling her mother-in-law that Shardul is infertile with falsified tests from Rimjhim’s clinic. The families decide that adoption might be the best route to completion of their supposed life together, and they apply to an adoption agency.

The delicate balance shatters when Shardul’s mother unexpectedly walks in on Suman and Rimjhim in an intimate moment, exposing Suman’s sexuality to both families. Shardul is torn between protecting Suman and protecting his own secret. He urges Suman not to reveal his orientation, but the truth comes out anyway. Suman’s mother and brother reject her, while her father remains quiet. Shardul confronts his own family and, in a pivotal moment, comes out himself. Some relatives shun him, but his mother ultimately accepts.

Back at work, Shardul is assigned to another Pride parade, and this time he wears a rainbow mask, publicly revealing his truth to his colleagues. The two families—now navigating a world where acceptance feels possible—begin to rethink the idea of divorce. They discover they have been approved for adoption and decide to stay married to raise the child, choosing to redefine family on their own terms.

A year later, the couple hosts an adoption ceremony in their apartment, inviting Rimjhim as a third parent. The gathering includes many family members, though not everyone is fully informed or ready to celebrate. An unexpected visit from Shardul’s superior and his wife throws a momentary wrench into the proceedings, prompting Rimjhim to step away. As the ceremony continues, Suman’s father signals Rimjhim to rejoin the room, stating that “a mother must be present at the ceremony.” Shardul then invites Guru to sit beside him, signaling a shared, chosen family. The superior, momentarily confused, is steadied by his wife’s quiet intervention, and the two couples smile with a brightness as vivid as a rainbow, marking a hopeful, if unconventional, future.