Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Movie Review: RS Prasanna Clearly Signifies That Not Talking About ED Is A Dysfunction In Itself
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is directed by RS Prasanna, which is based on a 2013 Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham. The film features Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles of a couple battling with erectile dysfunction. It isn't something common in Indian cinema that we come across a movie based on a topic as bold as a sexual problem. For being spun around a sensitive topic of ED, the film received a warm welcome even before its release. As the film hits the theatre on 1st September 2017, let’s analyze if it succeeds to cast its spell on the audience. Read the full review here.
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Day 2 Box Office Collection:
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Story
As it was pretty evident from the film’s trailer itself, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan follows the story of a common Indian couple whose love story is afflicted by a common sexual disorder, erectile dysfunction. Everything was going quite in DDLJ format, until one night, the duo tries to get intimate a couple of days before their marriage. One could’ve expected a steamy affair at that part, but everything turns topsy turvy when Sugandha comes to know about Mudit’s ‘gent’s problem’.
Though it’s a no laughing matter, Indian conscience is overcome by the habit of shrugging away everything that’s related to sex. And that’s what happened to Mudit and Sugandha’s near-perfect love story. Their families having a typical Delhi upper-middle class milieu throw a fit when they come to know about Mudit’s dysfunction. Instead of trying sympathising with him or getting an apposite solution, they mock his ‘Mardaangi’, as it is expected from an Indian mentality.
From doctors to Bengali Baba, Mudit tries them all until he loses his hopes on himself. Finally, they get married, half-heartedly accepting the fact of Mudit’s impotence. Will this marriage ever be a perfect one? You need to watch the film to find the answer.
P.S. After watching the film, you'll realise the reason why a bear appears in the poster alongside Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana.
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Review
Firstly, RS Prasanna deserves a standing ovation for touching the least-talked topic in India; sex and sexual problems. No one in his entire lifespan could’ve uttered ‘erectile dysfunction’ as much as Shubh Mangal Saavdhan did. The film talks lengths about sex, something which needs talking about in a highly populous country like India. The film also takes a bold take on premarital sex, the disgusting act on which every typical middle class Indian click their tongue in disapproval. With the movie, Prasanna throws the common conviction of ‘Mardaangi’ into tousle. The film never gets offensive during its entire course despite being spun around the seemingly-gawky subject of sex. Even the intentional double meaning-jokes of the film throws the audience into a fit of laughter, the audience which turns their head even on the mere mention of sex or coitus.
The humour is carefully placed, something which most of the comedy films lack these days. The magnitude of jokes is prudently measured, with nothing exceeding in sexual overtones or falling flat. There will be moments when the audience will laugh their head off. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan never falls flat in its slapstick comedy. In fact, if you’re planning to watch the film, be ready to walk out of the theatres with a pain in your jaw.
Keeping aside the funny side, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan takes a mature take on concerns we never bothered about. No one could have imagined that a man’s incompetency to consummate his sexual desire could throw his partner into an episode of inferior complex. Sugandha starts doubting her sex appeal when Mudit fails to feel enticed by her. She explores the forbidden realms of x-rated films and even goes to an extent of trying the Katrina Kaif-starer ‘Mango Trick’ on her beau. The scene where Sugandha unzips her hood to flaunt her seductive outfit touches the audience to the core. It reflects her feeling of being inferior in the sexual sphere. She takes it as her failure to drive Mudit mad with desire for her. We all knew it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t Mudit’s either.
But wait, have you heard that nothing is perfect? Yes, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan isn’t perfect either. It has flaws, however pardonable they are. One expects the entire length of the movie to be as logical and realistic as it has been in the beginning. But I suppose the makers were thrown into confusion while approaching towards an end that they let in not one but many slip ups. The climax was overstretched with sequences seeming out of place. The film could’ve been concluded as rationally as it started. But Mudit acting totally like a dunce when things were getting out his hands was a turn off for the movie. Nevertheless, the goofs did let the lustre of the movie down to some extent, but overall the film is undeniably entertaining and bold.
Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar as Mudit and Sugandha
There’s a thing about Khurrana. Even if his films don't make the grade of a box office hit at times, his performance is always memorable. Sample Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Vicky Donor, Bareilly Ki Barfi, etc. Whatever role has been assigned to him, the actor never fails any single of them. This is a sign of a true artist that one absorbs the character so well into their skin that the audience finds it difficult to strike a difference between real and reel. Ayushmann Khurrana cast his spell once again as Mudit. There wasn’t a single sequence where he seemed out of place or trying too hard. Ayushmann’s performance isn’t a surprise though, he has always been a stunner.
Bhumi Pednekar is on a roll this year. After a hoot-worthy performance in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Bhumi puts a totally different girl forward in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. A Moti Bagh girl, who always wishes her love story to be as happening as DDLJ, but ends up falling in love with a conditionally impotent man. The gorgeous actress has an aura of an everyday girl but with a set of remarkable acting skills. That adds to the magnetism of her personality.
Seema Pahwa steals the thunder from the lead cast whenever she shares the screen with Bhumi or Ayushmann. She has played the role of a lower-middle class Indian mother, who takes her daughter on a lingerie shopping for her impending marriage, but shies away at the word sex. The scene where she’s reading the excerpts of her diary to her about-to-get-married daughter deserved rounds of whistles. Pahwa tries to educate her daughter on sex without directly pointing towards the S-word. She equates the sexual connotations of a marriage to ‘Alibaba and 40 Chor’, implicating that only a woman’s husband deserves her virginity. The woman totally nails the supporting role, while stealing the limelight from the leads itself. After Bareilly Ki Barfi, Seema Pahwa gives another thunderous performance in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan.
Overall, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is a must-watch for those looking for a bold and untouched in Bollywood. The plot is executed so well that it wasn’t weighed down by the loopholes it had in the end. And a things is for sure, it is going to laugh all its way to the banks for being as close to perfect as a film can be!