- It tells the story of a man who is balding prematurely and how he copes up with the situation.
- Focuses on a young man Gaurav Rawat aka Bala (Ayushmann Khurrana) plagued with premature baldness and the way he copes with the situation. Revolving around his everyday struggle due to hair loss, the film also explores Bala's relationship with the two women in his life, played by Yami Gautam and Bhumi Pednekar.—Moviespie
- The film opens in Kanpur where 10-year-old students caricature and tease a balding teacher. Balmukund "Bala" Shukla (Ayushmann Khurrana), a popular and well-coiffed kid, leads the teasing. Bala borrows notes from the studious and dark-complexioned Latika (Bhumi Pednekar) and passes them off (as his own) to the fair-complexioned Shruti to impress her. When Latika calls him out, Bala berates her for being dark-complexioned. The narrator describes how society, particularly in the matrimonial process, values beauty and fair-skin over other accomplishments.
Years later, Bala is a balding late-twenties fairness cream salesman and late-night nightclub comic, who is struggling with his baldness. One day, in a rage, Bala lashes out at his middle-aged, bald, once a Ranji cricket player father Hari Shukla (Saurabh Shukla): the father's balding genes have killed the son's prospects. Bachchan Dubey (Javed Jaffrey) is Bala's guru and gives him novel tips on how to avoid baldness, but none work. Some days later his father presents him with a wig and consoles him and explains that baldness is an external feature and need not have anything to do with ones accomplishments and prospects. Bala dons the wig and resumes his work (and his nightclub gig) with new vigor. In due course Bala meets a pretty (and fair!) model, Pari (Yami Gautam), and courts her with his mimicry and his songs. They decide to marry. Some days before the wedding, Bala is stricken by conscience and sends her a text disclosing his baldness. Unbeknownst to him the text accidentally goes to someone else and Pari does not see it. Bala assumes she has accepted his baldness and they marry.
Latika has her share of troubles. Many boys and families come to see her but reject her because of her dark skin. Among these prospective suitors is Rohan (Varun Shashi Rao), an Australia-settled NRI who is attracted to Latika but the meeting blows up when his mother mentions Latika's complexion and Latika storms out. Rohan asks to meet Latika and they reconcile until he mentions he was initially attracted to her due to her Instagram profile. Latika reveals that she is not on Instagram, and it is revealed that Bala had created a fake profile with airbrushed pictures of Latika at her aunt's behest. Latika is left fuming at the whole ordeal.
Latika storms into Bala's home on the day after his wedding and shouts at him. Bala may be ashamed about his baldness but Latika has no such feeling about her complexion. She warns him not to interfere in her life anymore. Pari hears this outburst and thus discovers Bala's baldness and walks out on him. Bala is dejected. Some days later Bala receives a court notice: Pari has charged him with fraud and wants the marriage annulled. Bala visits her to talk it over. Pari reveals her feelings. She was blessed with good looks and not much else. She knew she was a below-average student and thus could not enter any other real profession. Her looks are all she has: they are the source of the attention she received all her life and they are the source of her livelihood as a model. She accepts that her only criterion for selecting a husband was his good looks; she also accepts that other girls may have other useless criteria (education, values etc.) but this is all she has.
Latika apologizes to Bala as her outburst broke his marriage. But it would have broken anyway. Bala engages her as his lawyer. The case begins. Latika cross-examines Pari who plainly accepts she married Bala because of his wits and charm. Pari also accepts Bala did not mislead or defraud her but she points out that Bala was not particularly forthcoming about his baldness. If he is not comfortable with his own self then he can hardly sustain anyone else. Pari's lawyer moves that Pari has her own right to want to annul the marriage whether there was fraud or not. As the arguments are heard Bala interrupts the proceedings and moves that Pari does have her right to want to annul the marriage. The judge orders so. Outside court Latika angrily confronts Bala: she could have turned the case. Bala shrugs; the law cannot compel anyone to love anyone and a half-attempt at marriage will not work anyway. Some time later during one of his fair-cream sales events he realizes beauty is merely skin-deep and he publicly sheds his wig. At a school reunion he apologizes to the balding teacher.
Bala realizes Latika is probably the perfect partner for him. He runs to propose to her but when he walks in he sees Rohan and his family have come to finalize the wedding. He proposes anyway but Latika turns him down gently; she actually likes Rohan. Bala is disappointed, but is able to resume his friendship with Latika. The film ends with Bala, now at peace with his baldness, doing a new comedy routine about skin-deep beauty and the meaning of life.
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