#ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan
If you’re looking for a one-line summary, it will be that mainstream Hindi cinema still has a long way to go in telling meaningful stories around homosexuality. Exactly one year after the first big mainstream attempt, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (see my review http://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2019/02/ek-ladki-ko-dekha-toh-aisa-laga-film.html ), not much has changed. The only saving grace in Shubh Mangal is that the lead gay characters in this movie are played by better actors (Ayushman Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar), than the film last year (Sonam Kapoor).
The movie is a coming home story of a gay couple (Kartik, Ayushman and Aman, Jitendra) and the journey they take in gaining acceptance in a regular conservative middle-class family from Allahabad. When Kartik joins Aman on a family wedding trip, the truth about their relationship is revealed. All hell breaks loose and from then on it’s a series of a few dramatic and many melodramatic incidents between multiple characters in the family, that invariable leads to a fait accompli happy ending.
Just like Ek Ladki.. in 2019, we have to applaud the attempt of Shubh Mangal. It’s good to see mainstream Hindi cinema taking up the cause of changing social norms and behaviours towards building a more progressive and inclusive society. We can also appreciate the fact that without the Bollywood over-the-top drama, the message may not get across to a wider audience. And in delivering the message, the film succeeds. The film clearly makes the point (in so many words) in what it’s trying to say.
But, that’s perhaps the problem with the film as well. It ends up being a 2-hour activist speech delivered mostly by Ayushman to Jitendra’s father, as the main representative of the conservative mindset.
And in that, the film misses a crucial ingredient to a good film. A story. We miss a coherent, engaging plot. The film feels like just different (almost disconnected) events that are strung together into kind of a narrative, to make an overall point.
Yet, that is not why the film completely fails. We have seen Ayushman’s previous films not having a strong storyline and still being absolutely brilliant (See my reviews of Badhaai Ho, http://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2018/10/badhaai-ho-film-review.html and Dream Girl http://books-booze-boxoffice.blogspot.com/2019/09/dream-girl-film-review.html). What was missing in the storyline was made up by other elements of the film. In Badhai Ho, it was the central idea which was hilarious enough to hold the entire film. And in Dream Girl, it was the priceless dialogues delivered by different characters, one after the other. Shubh Mangal tries to do both but fails. It has a message, but not a central idea, and it’s not a new message. It has funny one-liners through the film, but they are not enough.
But, where really Shubh Mangal fails spectacularly is the missed opportunity in the characters that it has developed in the family. While we have some really good actors (the entire star cast of Badhai Ho and some new ones) with very interestingly carved characters, they are wasted, in becoming either senders or receivers of the main message, instead of playing characters with their own narratives and emotions. What a missed opportunity in not exploring the emotional turmoil that the father Shankar Tripathi (Gajraj Rao) has through the entire film of dealing with the fact that his son is gay. What a missed opportunity in not giving the mother, Sunaina Tripathi (Neena Gupta) her own point of view on the whole situation to add flavour to the conversations. What a missed opportunity in not giving more story to Goggles (Maanvi Gagroo), as the too-old-to-get-married cousin that is a force of nature. What a missed opportunity in not making chacha Chaman Tripathi (Manu Rishi) a potential foil to his older brother.
And most of all, what a missed opportunity in not even bringing to life more nuance and texture in the relationship between the two lead characters, beyond the fact that they are gay and in love! Who were Kartik and Aman as people? Is being gay their only identity? And fighting for their acceptance their only life?
Just because it’s a comedy, does not mean that the film has to be devoid of any real feelings in the characters.
Alas, what a miss!
I suppose not every writer can be a director. Hitesh Kewalya, a successful writer in the industry, delivers an overall weak film. What Raaj Shaandilya (also a successful writer in the industry) was able to pull off with Dream Girl, through sheer wit and humour of his writing, Hitesh is not able to. Even with the same lead actor. Because not every time can just clever dialogues save a film.
Also, I suppose not everything that Ayushman touches is gold after all!
