Cast:
Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kiara Advani, Diljit Dosanjh
Director:
Raj Mehta
Deepti (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is lying on a hospital bed contemplating an abortion. The doctor (Tisca Chopra) gives her a final ultrasound before starting with the abortion procedure, and breaks the awkward silence in the room, “Can you see that grey dot on the monitor? That’s the baby’s heart. It’s beating.” Deepti, immediately defensive, responds, “Yeh aap mujhe kyu dikha rahin hai?” She’s here for an abortion. Setting your moral compasses aside, it is the mother’s choice. Even today. At least in India. So, is the doctor trying to manipulate her?

This particular scene in the Akshay Kumar, Kareena, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani-starrer Good Newwz had us shake our heads. No, it wasn’t technically a manipulation, because Kareena’s Deepti actually wanted the baby. But it is moments or scenes like these, that Hindi cinema thinks it should deliver for the greater good of society, that ruin cinema itself.

Good Newwz has its fair and unfair share of preachy dialogues. From “tumhare andar ek jaan pal rahi hai” in the context of abortion to “apna khoon toh apna hi hota hai” in the context of IVF vs adoption, look closely, and Good Newwz will disappoint.

But, can we deny that it is entertaining? Certainly not. Director Raj Mehta, with co-writers Jyoti Kapoor (also credited for story) and Rishabh Sharma, have spent little time on actual characterisation, and more on creating soda bubble-like comedy scenes. They work just fine. You laugh, sometimes so hard that you almost snort your coffee on your neighbour. Raj had colossal help from both Akshay’s Varun and Diljit’s Honey, whose impeccable comic timing coupled with a simplistic charm that both are blessed with, the fun elements remain fun, and do not turn crass. That, in itself, is a credit for any Hindi cinema attempting comedy.

Kareena as Deepti does her job superbly. In fact, this should have been her comeback film, instead of Veere Di Wedding. She is feisty, and in between chasing interviews of Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt, she harbours a desire to be a mother. And she’s ready. But Kiara in the role of Monika emerges as a true find in this 2-hour-14-minute film! Her unwavering faith in Mata Rani is as endearing as the maroon velvet tracksuit that she pairs with a phulkari kurta and an oh-so-much-glitter-that-I’m-blind bag.

Much like Kiara’s styling as a Chandigarh-girl, Good Newwz gets a lot of things right. Like the vivid clash between the city-bred and small town-bred Batras, depicted not just through their clothes, but their body languages, too. But even if we were to ignore the intentionally righteous dialogues we referred to above that almost made our coffee curdle, there’s plenty that Good Newwz gets wrong. Like a two-month premature baby the size of a six-month-old with a head full of hair. Will Bollywood ever get newborns right?

During the promotions of Good Newwz, Akshay promised that they are trying to bring the serious subject of IVF “thoda commercially.” In that, Akshay and team have only been semi-successful. But is it enough? We fear, in posterity, it is not. And that Good Newwz will remain a one-time watch at best.

source: indiatoday.in/movies