Bad Newz follows the story of Saloni as she gets impregnated after a night of intimacy, only to later find out that the father of her children are both her partners with whom she spent the night. The story here is part frivolous part funny but never rises to its full potential while running out of steam towards the end. Remember how promising the trailer looked with its funny gags? Unfortunately for the film, most of the funny gags were already exposed in its trailer while the film in itself was a little devoid of them while having this loud tonality that was intended to be funny. The writing surely needed to be sharper by not only relying on its terrific one-liners but also creating situations that are unforeseen. But the writing chose a safety first approach by virtue of which the drama was predictable and only partly funny over the screenplay standing at a whopping 140 odd minutes which was on the higher side for a film of this subject.

The drama opens with an unexpected cameo of a young actor who is about to play the lead in the biopic of one of the protagonists, Saloni who had lead an incredible life up until then while being awarded the highest Chef award. And therein begins an extended flashback featuring the re-introduction of Saloni, a girl with big dreams who just doesn’t wish to marry until she stumbles upon Akhil who literally sweeps her off her feet. The duo do get married until a sequence of ‘comedy’ involving Akhil’s closeness to his mother completely derails their marriage leading to divorce. This until she meets Gurbir, a restaurant owner with whom she begins her platonic relationship too while later in a blurry night of intoxication invariably shares a s*quel encounter with both her partners that results in a conflict that forms the base of the drama.

Straight up, the comedy here is a swing and a miss although a large chunk of the portions that actually work must be attributed to Vicky Kaushal and his immaculate sense of comedy. The writing isn’t sharp while being content with following the regular tropes of a Bollywood film even with its world building and characterization. So you do have a loud mouthed ‘Rocky Randhawa-esque’ guy who falls in love with a petite but head-strong girl(where have we seen this before again?), even as the third dimension to this triangular love-story is a restrained guy who only shows off his aggressive side when pitted against his nemesis in love. Given the unique concept in hand, it did need a little sharper writing with the situations created even though I knew that it would be futile to expect nuance in what was a quintessential Bollywood film. But having said that, the situations created were just so flat and bland that even the peppy one-liners couldn’t quite elevate the script. The drama was partly funny in the first hour, make no mistake, but that was majorly due to an in form Vicky Kaushal who nearly saves the day(more on him later).

The twist at the halfway mark(of the twin pregnancy with a twist) did make me hopeful for a cracker of a second hour with the two boys pitted against each other. But that remains the weakest link of the film wherein the game of one-upmanship between the boys was so fragmented and so boring that it made me cringe while face-palming at the events which were unfolding. The humour seemed forced and did not induce even a moment of laughter(barring the Katrina Kaif meta gag which is there in the trailer). The film does work though partially only when it chooses to get a little serious. The conflict at the start of the third act was the most interesting aspect of the film that needed a little more nurturing, even as it remains short-lived before getting back into its quintessential Bollywood mode. There was a chance to somewhat add nuance to the drama, but the writers blow the sole opportunity that was creating in the end by opting for an ending that was cliched and very convenient. As a viewer, I did feel letdown by the casual non-chalant writing that refused to get into the intricate details of the drama while always being content with the loud tonality of the drama. This, when the conflict was unique and there to be explored!