Bad Newz Movie Review: Since 2012, Ayushmann Khurrana has had some kind of a monopoly over films on sex, sexuality and reproductive health (sperm donation, erectile dysfunction and gender stereotypes in gynaecology, for example). Over time, others too ventured into this realm with films on condoms and sperm mix-up during in-vitro fertilisation. The latest to join the bandwagon is Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk whose new film Bad Newz revolves around the rare case of heteropaternal superfecundation, which in simple terms refer to the fertilisation of two ova by sperms from two different males.
The film revolves around Delhi-based Saloni Bagga, a chef who aspires to win the Meraki Star someday. She is constantly pestered by her mother to attend weddings so that she can find herself a suitable groom because it was weddings that brought Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma together in Band Baaja Baaraat. So, at one of these nuptials, Saloni meets Akhil Chaddha, an eligible bachelor and true-blue mamma’s boy who runs his family chaap shop in Karol Bagh.
Sparks fly and the two fall in love and before you know it, they get married and fly off to Europe for their honeymoon. Soon, Akhil and his mother’s love and obsession with each other begins irking her. Akhil’s green flag-esque traits also start looking like red flags to her. So, every time he comes to her café to surprise her and brings her gifts, she starts hating him more and more. It’s also because of him that she ends up losing the Meraki Star and once she realises that her career is being compromised amid all this, she takes matter into her own hands.
Predictably, divorce happens. Days later when she has moved to Mussoorie to work as a head chef in a hotel, Saloni sees pictures of Akhil cosying up with other girls on social media. In a fit of anger and hurt, she ends up sleeping with Gurbir Singh Pannu, the owner of the hotel. But Akhil reintroduces himself in Saloni’s life that very night where emotions lead to physical intimacy between the two. Six weeks later, Saloni finds out she’s pregnant, with the doctor telling her that it’s a case of heteropaternal superfecundation and that she’s expecting twins.
Thus begins a long-drawn war between Akhil and Gurbir, who leave no stone unturned to prove their worth to Saloni so that by the time the babies arrive, she can take a call on who she will raise them with. Thrown into this mix is also Maa Corona, Saloni’s maasi, a psychiatrist cum spiritual guru always dressed like a Bohemian free spirit, who tries to help her navigate this confusion and chaos.
Keeping up with the template, the makers of Bad Newz too portray this narrative using comedy as a device. And that’s exactly why the film falls flat for the most part. Most one-liners and repartees seem to be plagiarised from ‘WhatsApp University’. Needless to say, they don’t land. The actors try too hard to bring out a cackle out of you, sometimes by resorting to hamming and sometimes, through physical comedy. But we’re sad to report that they don’t work most of the times. The comic situations too are unintentionally unfunny.
While most Bollywood films suffer due to their languorous pace, one of Bad Newz’s weak links is its rushed editing. Akhil and Saloni’s love story from meeting at a wedding to flirting, dating, getting married, going on a honeymoon and eventually divorcing each other happens at the snap of a finger. The encapsulation of all these episodes is so jarring that their relationship doesn’t get established at all. As a result, you’ll find yourself questioning how and why they got married so quickly despite the makers stating loud and clear that it was ‘chat mangni pat byaah’.
The grounds on which they part ways also seems irrational. No, don’t get us wrong, unhappy marriages are not to be endured. But what about the importance of communication? What about a justification behind how green flags and chivalry may sometimes make a woman feel handicapped? Further, the dynamic between Saloni and Gurbir isn’t properly established either. You’ll constantly wonder, why he’s vying for her attention and matching shoulders with Akhil, who she actually claims to have been in love with? The fact that Gurbir isn’t too comfortable with Saloni’s roughness in bed despite giving his consent doesn’t help the cause.
But credit lies where’s due and director Anand Tiwari and writers Tarun Dudeja and Ishita Moitra deserve praise for the inclusion of innumerable meta jokes in the film. Ammy Virk’s Gurbir stating that he’s no Vicky Sandhu from Manmarziyaan who gets left behind as a third person in a love triangle or a certain starry cameo referring to Triptii’s Saloni as ‘national crush’ and ‘bhabhi 2’ or Vicky’s Akhil getting defensive when Gurbir wants to remove a poster of Katrina Kaif from Saloni’s room or Saloni talking about how her next door neighbour Kabir loves and beats up his lover Preeti does tickle your funny bones. But none of that’s enough to keep this 2 hour 22 minute long film going.
Vicky gives it his all to Akhil Chaddha, who seems like an extension of Vicky Sandhu or more appropriately, a mix of Vicky Sandhu and Rocky Randhawa. He maybe impish but he’s the greenest green flag, who loves selflessly with all his heart. It’s him who single-handedly tries to elevate this middling script. His comic timing is great but he surely deserved funnier dialogues. His banter with Ammy are pure gold. A special mention goes to the scene where Akhil and Gurbir meets for the first time at a doctor’s clinic to get their paternity tests done. Their chemistry, in all honesty, is richer than the one shared by Akhil and Saloni.
The duo gets some sensual numbers to portray their chemistry. But it fizzles out all too soon. Akhil and Saloni making out on a dinner table or in the shower wearing the best of bold outfits don’t really contribute much. Triptii’s portrayal of Saloni is also not one of her best. While she does a good job in the scenes where she’s required to school Akhil and Gurbir, she doesn’t get to play much around with other emotions. She remains perpetually irked. For a film that literally circumnavigates around her, her character deserved a little more edge and meat.
Ammy too tries to make you laugh but ends up hamming quite a bit. The track involving his Gujarati ex-girlfriend who leaves him because of the most frivolous reason also seems pointless. As for Neha Dhupia, who plays Maa Corona, doesn’t get to do much in the film. Her character is heavily under-cooked and unfortunately, doesn’t impart anything to the script. The two cameos do nothing else apart from amping up the glamour quotient of the film.
All in all, Bad Newz stays true to its title. It is just a good looking film that shines on the surface. It could have been so much more. The makers barely touch upon the moral policing a woman at the centre of heteropaternal superfecundation may suffer. On the other hand, they could have easily done away with the many songs that keep popping up every now and then. The film solely belongs to Vicky and his Tauba Tauba but let’s caution you that you’ll need to sit till the very end if you want to catch the actor suavely grooving to its cool beats.