How often have we mentioned the quote, ‘Love is blind’. The reason being, love is such a complex emotion. And it knows no boundaries. Which is were enters homosexuality which sometime back was a criminal offence in our country. And as far as I am concerned, homosexuality is as natural as it can be. Because at the end of the day, love is love! Bollywood has had its few share of works tackling this subject(Aligarh, I am…among others). Sadly, in most movies, the gay character has been carricaturish with a weird background score associated with him. This week releases, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan(SMZS) starring the ever bankable Ayushmann Khurana….its trailer was hilarious…is the movie a celebration or does it end up being a squid. Lets find out…

SMZS is the story of a young couple, Amar and Kartik, who have to convince Amar’s family for their acceptance of their relationship. Yes, the usual story on this subject but that is what we had signed up for hadn’t we. The issue lies with its patchy screenplay. Alot of emphasis has been given to the character of the parents while the main couple are shockingly given a backseat. I mean this is their journey and they should have been the prime focus. Thankfully, towards the end, the film salvages some pride and avoids a train wreck! The dialogues are sharp but all punches do not land! Debutant director Hitesh Kewalya(who is the writer here and who had also written Shubh Mangal Savdhaan) doesn’t quite nail the subject. While care has been taken to not make this subject a carricature and instead treat it as normal as ever, I cannot help but think that the drama was all to vanilla and never did it really take a deeper plunge!

The performances save the day to an extent! Neena Gupta is outstanding. Her Badhaai Ho costar and partner in crime Gajraj Rao is superb! If a few punches land then full credit must be given to Manurishi Chaddha and his impeccable timing. Maanvi Gagroo as Goggle is quite good. Jeetu(last seen on the silver screen in Gone Kesh, Recommended) is such a natural actor and makes the character of Amar so real. “Trigger Warning” and I hate to say this! Ayushmann Khurana is a bit of a let down here. He is good only sporadically but overall ends up being a little superficial. And of the two, he has a less meatier part!

On the whole, SMZS is a missed opportunity. While the message is definitely loud and clear but it doesn’t quite hit the bull’s eye! It is Ayushmann Khurrana who is single handedly changing the face of Indian cinema and credit must be given. Sadly, he misses the mark here, but more strength to him anyway😊

PS : Meanwhile, parents be like we support homosexuality but humaare bachche gay na ho bas! #DoubleStandards