"Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai" from the original soundtrack of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).

[Pat Version | Pran Version]

"Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai" sang by Shreya Ghoshal, from the original soundtrack of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).

[Pat Version | Pran Version]

🌟 Favorite Yuzu things: Hydroblade

thinking about all the times it’s shown - physically - that Pat and Pran are on equal ground in bad buddy. that neither keeps the upper hand over the other, neither is more shy or more forward, neither loves one more than the other, and how the narrative itself does not dedicate itself to one character more than the other. this is their story, together. 

now, im only gonna talk about big moments, or moments that stood out to me the most, because if i mentioned every tiny detail or parallel we would be here for months, so without further ado -

Episode 5′s legendary rooftop kiss

they both step forward at the same time. after a conversation filled with desperation and release, the fact that they both want this is huge, and they both see that in each other, and it allows them to be brave.

pat initiates the first, pran pulls him back in for another, pat’s hands, then pran’s other hand. they literally end in the same position - cradling each other’s faces. the fact that their first kiss is shown to be entirely mutual in every breath - so much so that they mirror each other’s movements, is so telling to the nature of their relationship as a whole.

and pran may walk away, but even that adds to the fact that both their feelings are valued on screen, that neither character is more important than the other to the narrative. pat is allowed to smile because that’s what makes sense for him, and pran is allowed to walk away because that’s what makes sense for him as well.

The hand touch in ep6

what gets me about this was that it was an accident. they don’t know what they are - pran’s refusing to talk about it and pat is respecting that - but then this happens. and neither of them pull away (or move their hands closer, for that matter). 

by not pulling away they are both acknowledging that there is something more going on between them. pran not pulling away is him acknowledging that, which is what pat had been trying to figure out all episode, since pran ran away after their kiss. it’s shy, it’s vulnerable, and it leaves their relationship open and hopeful, for both of them. 

Face cleaning in ep7

this is during the bet, and is the most natural scene between them while it’s going on. pat is trying to cheer pran up, and pran not only lets him, but shows him it works. he becomes the most unguarded he’s been for the first time since their conversation on the beach. it’s a big step for him! and it’s thanks to the bet that he can do this at all.

by reciprocating pat’s actions in this scene (by cleaning each other’s faces) he is showing pat that he both accepts pat’s love and saying he loves him too. and they both know that. neither of them is actually trying to flirtatiously get the upper hand or confess, they are just genuinely enjoying time together.

The bedroom kiss in ep9

this may not seem like a big moment, and in truth it isn’t, it lasts half a second, but to me it’s a very special way of showing how equal their relationship is.

pat is leaning over pran, and more than that, he’s shirtless. but rather than, say, “threatening” a kiss, he is asking for one. and pran is not limp and shy under pat, he is laughing. and he delivers.

it is so comfortable, so familiar, so fun and so clearly unbiased in terms of dominance, that it shows a level of intimacy in a same sex relationship that is frankly not seen often on television. it’s just two people loving each other, for themselves, behind closed doors.

The ep10 “confession”

pran setting up this moment for pat, not just allowing pat to publicly announce his feelings, but demanding it of him, is pran publicly announcing his feelings as well. this scene isn’t pat claiming pran, it’s both of them claiming each other. they both want this - it’s a game, it’s another competition, it’s fun for them. and it’s physically paralleled by pran at the top of the stairs, pat at the bottom, walking towards each other, and meeting in the middle.

if you want a full breakdown on why this moment works so well, read this post by @jemmo​, it says it all.

Next up, fistbumps!

this may seem silly, but it’s their thing. and it establishes in episode 1 that they are in this together. it is a physical symbol of the way they work together, decide things together, and move forward together. they’re promises. fistbumps also show their friendship, which was something they were never allowed to have in the first place.

And finally here are just a few bonus moments that show the physical ways (both literally and figuratively) they’re on equal footing that I could wax poetic over, but this is getting too long already -

Pre-rooftop kiss: 

Post-rooftop kiss (with some parallels): 

and, of course, the episode 12 final scene, where they get to run around and be unhinged and super into each other.

honestly the way pat and pran are allowed to be so casually physical all the time and share so many, innumerable touches in this show, is one of my favorite things about them. it just shows over and over that they’re on the same team, they’re best friends, they’re in this together for better or worse, they’re safe together, and…quite simply. that they love each other very much.

literally you guys get it thank you so much:

#ur right ur right im never Not thinking about this#esp bc gay couples in media are modelled for str8 women and so they fall back#into that heteronormative structure#but pranpat have never#this is what it means to have a gay person narrate gay stories (by @transpat)

#this is good bc one thing about patpran is that its a wonderful depiction of ‘different yet equal’ characters#not just in their relationship but narratively too#for ex pran gets to show his feelings through music w guitar#pat gets to show his feelings thru music w the xylophone#pat makes up with pran in his way#pran makes up w pat in his way#its all very lovely and mirrored in their physical behavior too (by @miscellar)

ep.13 got me…..

Our Song is the new gay anthem

I’ve been thinking a lot about the lyrics of Our Song, the montage in episode 11 and how Bad Buddy retrospectively changed the way I perceive romance. The song made PatPran become THE couple of the 21st century whose love story holds enough magic and power to nullify whatever preceded them and might possibly follow. The lyrics see Pran considering the possible definitions of love and arriving at a conclusion, only that conclusion is madly inspirational and completely startling. Let’s do a breakdown.

“If our love was a song If our story was written out to sing along What kind of a song do you think our love would be?“

The song establishes itself as a metatextual ode at first, planning on turning their love story into a timeless song and wondering what great feats of love it might boast about. Traditionally, love stories are often romanticized to talk about extraordinary things and leave us wistful for the impossible but that’s also what distinguishes the ordinary stories from the ones that stand the test of time.

"Is love a beautiful world? Something of grandeur Is it a sky, a mountain, a sea, or other kind of splendor?”

The song wonders if PatPran’s love story could perhaps be like those awe-inspiring love stories that have portrayed love as a force that stopped at nothing, that which the heavens have wept for, the mountains toppled for and the seas rose in fury for, or other such life-changing stories that people have fought, died and conquered the limits of nature for.

The stories we tend to remember are ones that elevate mortal romance into something miraculous and undying. Modern day love stories seldom talk about that soul-consuming kind of love. After all, doesn’t love seem to be more indomitable in a time or world where the stakes are much higher and people have to fight kingdoms, gods, monsters, corrupt governments, time-traveling assassins, aliens or anything else you can imagine to exhibit the sheer power of love?

I think PatPran’s love story acknowledges it isn’t your typical extraordinary love story, but in doing so, it also becomes the living example of 21st century romance that has convinced the viewers of the magical nature of PatPran’s love, that especially queer people have not witnessed since the inception of time.

“I’ve now realized what my love is about It’s something small that I just can’t live without”

The song goes on to dismiss the association of their love with something so grand and epic, and it is right given that this is a simple story about two boys who lived next door and fell in love. Only I see it as PatPran rejecting the definitions of love that romance has supplied us with so far and creating their own.  

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just a friend/good luck, buddy

another thing about bad buddy. outside of the show, as a general rule, i don’t like the phrase ‘just friends’ mainly because i think friendships are so important, especially for queer people. we find so much comfort in ‘found families’ that putting ‘just’ in front of platonic relationships feels v cishet to me lol. 

but i love the way the phrase is used in bad buddy, from the beginning to the end, like an inside joke, something to read between the lines. in ep 1 where they save each others numbers for the first time after seeing each other after 3 years. then when they hang out between the borders of friendship and romance (why, do you want to be my friend?). then when they need to be apart (let’s go home. good luck, buddy). then at the very end when they use tin cans to speak to each other (are you really just a friend? yes, because you don’t tell anyone you are my boyfriend). 

it’s the feeling when you read about people in the past on ‘personal life’ in their wikipedia page and find out they had a ‘friend’ they lived their whole life with, grew old with, planted trees with, wrote poems about etc. (but historians will say they were ‘just friends’, haha). that’s the joke: their love is in between in the lines. 

just like the song: if our love was written out to sing along, what kind of song would it be? nothing else but you, lyrics that are nothing new, but you and i know the meaning between the lines. 

I just thought about how Ohm and Nanon shaped their characters and thus the show so much, and especially Ohm's choice to play Pat as already in love with Pran in the very beginning.

I feel like their story would feel less impactful if he did what P'Aof asked of him and played Pat as not having feelings for Pran early on, and just suddenly falling in love in episode 5. How could you explain this intense commitment from the start, them choosing each other forever after basically one kiss, the sheer intensity of emotions in episode 5? If it wasn't for Ohm's choice here, it would kind of fall apart, almost.

And it fits what we're shown of their past so much better. Pat's intense desire to be noticed by Pran, the fact that he's always looking at him, trying to get a reaction, their evident closeness despite claiming to be rivals because they simply cannot stay away from each other (like we saw in the pictures from their high school days), the pick, the band, him helping Pran with the bus stop when he didn't have to, and the fact that Ink knows immediately that Pat's feelings for her aren't as real or as strong as he believes, because she saw them together and she knows who Pat's real match is and where his heart belongs. You could probably list 20 more things here, but the point is that the way Pat's behaviour is written wouldn't make as much sense if Ohm didn't play him the way he did.

Softer than intended, I assume, more emotionally vulnerable and open. I feel like Pat could've been a typical jock character: cool, arrogant, self obsessed, a heartbreaker, maybe not exactly someone Pran would "reasonably" fall for. Just think about how he constantly says how hot he is and how well he does with the ladies. It doesn't matter if it's true, what matters is that many other actors might have actually made Pat exactly this kind of guy who only softens once their relationship starts. But Ohm made him goofy and made the bragging fun, made him emotionally intelligent and empathetic, showed us how Pat feels even if Pat doesn't even know it yet.

And those choices made their love all the more powerful, more intense, and their struggles more tragic, because we now have two people who have both loved each other for so long, no matter if they were aware of it or not. And we have Pat who wears his feelings on his sleeve, who shows us again and again how he lights up around Pran, how he's the most true version of himself when they're together. And Ohm's acting just continuously emphasises this, even if it was not exactly written like this.

But when I look at the last scene, of them as kids, I can't help but think this is exactly what the story needed. A life long love that began as children who wanted to be friends so desperately they made a tin can phone just to be able to talk to each other, and just like Pran wanted to show in his song, slowly developed into something more over the years, even if one of them didn't even notice it.

So really, Ohm filled in the emotional gaps in the writing, and he did it masterfully.

honestly the show was evil for the breakup fakeout but when i watch reactors reacting to pran appearing at the door in episode 12 i can't help but tip my hat to the writers because the stakes were LOW, they got their audience SO GOOD, and it's not even unfair because they'd already been setting it up one by one: fake previews since episode 1, establishing pat and pran as expert manipulators who love keeping their relationship a secret, making us ALL care enough so that the stakes are unbelievably real and upsetting and then giving us pat wink/pran dimple smile to end our time in joy...

watching adult human beings actually scream because pran was behind the door and then spent the next half hour giggling to themselves... oh it's fun and it's good and it's evil, but this is really the communal tv watching experience of the 21st century taken to its greatest heights, had the whole world screaming over one gay relationship... I LOVE IT

I’m thinking about what Bad Buddy ending means to 12-year-old me because as soon as I saw the chaotic ending I was overcome with rapture that someone finally shot the most adventurous buildup to a love scene in a healthy queer context. everything about it was chef’s kiss from the shaky camera to the competitive chase and the closing shot & dialogue that perfectly encapsulated patpran’s eternally grossly in love dynamics 

it also made me think oh man holy shit, this is what straight people have been watching their whole lives because back then i remember my het friends losing their minds over Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie & raving about the extremely explosive chemistry they portrayed as a married assassin couple. i didn’t really understand what the big deal was about and simply thought jolie was really hot 

but 13 years later, i understand why the equally badass & equally horny married couple dynamics really works because my head was spinning after watching patpran create a similar one in a queer ass context

i would hence like to take a moment to give my respect and thanks to bbs team and patpran for letting queer people see what unrestrained queer desire looks like in all its glorious colors and proving that queer desire can be just as exciting and passionate and obnoxiously loud and beautiful to portray on screen

patpran are truly husbands your honor

I'm once again crying over the fact that Bad Buddy is a project that radiates positivity and hope from start to finish, someone finally did it, created the best explictly canon queer romance filled with everything we've always dreamt of, they made a story especially for us that checked off all the right boxes. And everything we feared was because we are so used to being fed with subpar representation and it feels surreal that BBS team personally held our hands and said, "I know this and I understand you, I feel the same and I'm going to set everything gloriously right"

And now that we've established hiding the relationship was a playful subversion, I want to yell about how this is the first time watching two characters hide their relationship which managed to document the same exhilaration and head rush of romance that het love stories have been portraying for eons, how this is not at all something specifically related to queer people but it's just a story about two lovers who will brave whatever adversity life throws at them and stop at nothing to be together!!

From now on, I refuse to watch things that don't rise to the golden standard patpran have set. It feels insane to wake up this morning after that rollercoaster finale feeling invincible like I can do anything in life, I hope we never let go of this feeling and come back to the show whenever we need to remember it

because no one, and I mean NO ONE has done this for queer people!

At the end of the day, we were back to being lovers. BAD BUDDY (2021-2022) dir. Backaof Noppharnach

Pat and Pran got to be authentic to their relationship dynamic by proceeding in this way. This was completely in character for them. Most of their relationship has been behind closed doors and now they have the power to choose to keep it secret because they WANT it to be.

They get to remain playful, loving and at the helm of what they are to one another. Not every relationship needs to be broadcast from the rooftops. They know they love each other and that’s more than enough.

Love doesn’t have to be loud enough so everyone can hear, just as long as the people involved in the relationship are listening.

11 Reasons Why Bad Buddy Broke The World in 11 Episodes

As we move closer to finale, I made a list of my favorite things that this drama gifted us to remember and cherish forever. (In no particular order!)

1. It’s a Romantic Comedy (With a Twist!) Romcom is a genre you cannot go wrong with and the world of queer media needs more of. Bad Buddy is filled with smiles and laughter and just the right amount of melodrama that doesn’t let it turn too depressing anywhere (except maybe ep 11 which was still stunningly written and served the purpose). It has become the comfort show that lifted our spirits over the last 11 weeks and that is what any good show must do. By injecting the story with the star-crossed trope in the background, they have achieved a flawless balance between fluff and angst. It is a relatable love story that you smile, yearn and weep for, a true masterpiece whichever angle you see it from. 

2. OhmNanon’s Acting Ngl I did not see this coming even after the trailer. With every episode that came out I was shocked by their natural chemistry and how they felt more like a real couple than any couple we’ve ever seen in a queer drama. Whichever show nails the casual touches and kisses has already won the lottery and OhmNanon served us the entire range. From childhood friends to rivals to lovers that gave us the bickering dynamics of an eternally married couple, the effortlessness with which two people who have known each other their entire lives fall in love, the passionate lovers who grow up to take a stand and everything in between. This casting was godsent. 

3. PatPran’s partnership In my opinion, this is Bad Buddy’s greatest strength for why it is the best BL drama we’ve ever seen and closest to true love we’ve ever gotten in a modern day queer love story. We rarely see a couple like PatPran who are partners in everything and fight the world together all while being entirely wholesome, utterly positive and totally unproblematic. At the heart of it, Bad Buddy is about two people being in love and the extents they will go for their love to survive. We see both of them being there for each other, taking care of each other, sweeping each other off their feet & fighting for each other- that’s love! Love is partnership and no one is more than the other. Love thrives in equality. Majority of shows fail to understand that and only focus on one character’s love for the other. But Pat and Pran are two sides of the same coin and we are so lucky to witness such a well-written story come to life.

4. PatPran are a Power Couple No story understood the assignment like Bad Buddy did that we like to see stories where both the protagonists are of an equal standing in every sense; where they are equally badass, equally obsessed with each other, equally devoted in love and supportive of each other. They’re also leaders of their respective faculties, super smart, music lovers, rugby players and rivals in life and love. All this brings the magnetism of two yin yang personalities and soulmates attracting. The story itself was structured in a way where them being equal was pivotal to the romance and the whole competition on the surface is an exciting ploy because there are only winners in love. (This equal dynamics in characterization is something I’ve only seen so far in Chinese BL dramas like SHL/CQL so I am absolutely giddy to see it in a modern day setup!) These 2 reasons are why they are being hailed as the healthiest couple in BL history.

5. It Successfully Captured The Queer Experience This show really nails the fact that queer people have entirely unique experiences in love and there is zero need to base it on/reference straight romance in the process of telling that story. BL so far hasn’t been able to ditch outdated tropes that were carried over from het romance. You simply cannot change the female lead’s role to a male one and call it a brand new gay/sapphic love story where it still feels like the characters are operating on het dynamics of the pursuer and the pursued.

Bad Buddy hammers in that there are no fixed husband/wife roles or top/bottom dynamics in a queer relationship (there shouldn’t be in a straight relationship either but that’s not my fight lol) and that you can’t apply straight templates to a queer romance without ruining it in some way. (I mean just look at Pa who thought Ink didn’t like her back after listening to her straight friends complaining about their het love lives.)

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If you are queer and feeling sad about this ending for some reason, let me just remind you that is not what the Bad Buddy Series team wants you to feel after tonight

So often young queer people feel pressurised to go out and change the world because if we don’t fight for change in this world, then who will do it for us? On top of dealing with all the problems we already have because we’re queer, at some point in fighting for our rights feels like we are expected to do big things we cannot yet do for various reasons and scream our identity from the rooftops. While we all resist the heteronormative world in various ways and do what we can to make it a queerer place in various degrees, there are still huge gaps between what we as a single entity can do to change the perspective of the world so that it accepts us and how much of the world we can actually reach with our personal efforts in reality

Bad Buddy reminds us it’s ok to choose your battles, because if we are all happy living our queer lives happily and unapologetically, we are already winning and changing the world we live in, one Asian household at a time

I wept a lot today because the message I received from Bad Buddy is one I was not prepared to receive, that it is not always your job to change the way everyone in this world perceives our community, it is ok to simply be who you are

It is enough to simply exist and hold on to your identity

It is not you that needs to try harder but the world that needs to try a bit harder and for a bit longer to catch up with you

In the meanwhile we can do what PatPran did, we can choose the person we love and it is enough

We can find a way to love them till the end of our lives and it is enough

I feel like I’ve been so lost in life and bad buddy literally handed me a blueprint of how to go about life and presented me with a living example that queer people do get happy endings, it just looks a lot different than what we’ve been taught

But I watched that ending today and for the first time in my life I felt hope that no drama has ever given me

I felt reassurance that our lives will turn out to be fine

Just. Thank you Aof, ohmnanon and the whole team for crafting the romantic comedy of our dreams. I’m pretty sure I could spend a whole lifetime thanking them and it won’t be enough

I’ve seen people point this out and just wanted to add my 2 cents that I really liked the ending where they completely subverted the hiding your relationship trope because I see it as patpran owning their destiny and taking their hands off what they cannot control. They tell us as much, that “in reality not every story has a happy ending” - but they sure as hell are not going to wait for theirs! Inspirational stuff right there. Their families are aware of their relationship and cannot do anything but slowly learn to live with their sons being in love and hopefully one day be happy together (we need those special episodes to see Pat enter through the door and the real family reunion!)

It is such a positive take on the trope that focuses on patpran staying true to their hearts and vehemently in love as ever, their love finding a way around everything that stopped them in college. I like to believe in the realistic message it sends, that nobody can stop you forever and the older you get, the easier it gets for queer relationships to thrive in peace, that no obstacle is going to hold you back forever and that includes familial acceptance

This show really sat down and studied everything wrong with queer storytelling and went I’m letting the gays reclaim everything they want. And we love to see it