Thank You For Coming(premiered at TIFF to rave reviews earlier this year) follows the story of a woman in her early 30s, lonely, and never having experienced an orgasm in her life. Will things change for her? Now, there are two ways to look at this film – one through the lens of a usual sex comedy, and the other through the message which it is trying to convey with respect to patriarchy. I did feel that the latter was a little skewed and preachy, but the former was light and breezy that worked in the film’s favour. Had the story been slightly subdued and clear with its messaging, the film would have been a better proposition. The screenplay standing at a shade under 2 hours does make for an enjoyable ride for most parts while slightly stuttering in the final reels, thus making for a mixed kind of an outing.

The drama unfolds almost in the form of a fairy tale, wherein you are introduced to a young protagonist who is held up for her talks on ‘sex’ during a school play. Her supportive mother is overuled by her grandmother following which she has had to apologise in front of her school to prevent suspension. Soon the hormones kick in, and you are reintroduced to the protagonist who soon has different men in her lives at various junctures, but none of them could satisfy her urge of a perfect orgasm. The concept of ‘sex’ is very different for males and females. While for the males it is more physical, it is emotional and almost nuanced for a female. And hence, to stage your comedy on the latter needed some nuanced writing. The little issue that I had was presented the case of pleasure through the male gaze. But outside that space, the comedy was working too, given that I had a smile on my face with the events unfolding.

<span;>The proceedings are fairly engrossing with the concept of friendship kicking in, in the first hour before turning the focus on the protagonist only. The drama doesn’t quite stray from its tone and that continues to remain the biggest strength here. The characterization is a hit and a miss here, given that a couple of subplots that had the potential, could have resulted in an even better product. For instance, the character of the mother had such a sensitive back story which could have turned into a parallel tale throughout the film. But the focus was mainly on the character of Bhumi Pednekar, something that wasn’t a case of bad writing either. The comedy here will not make you laugh hysterically but the streaks of it are enough to put a smile on your face.

I quite liked how the LGBTQIA concept was presented with a touch of sensitivity and laughter(not in the sense of a caricature) wherein the tone of comedy was situational. Things take a turn in the second hour in a rather quirky manner, and the events involved in finding the person through whom the character of Bhumi did get an orgasm was rather fun to watch. Almost all characters are circled back to, thus resulting in a fun watch. But the issue lies in the events leading up to the final act that does turn preachy with its skewed messaging. I did feel that the drama did lose a little of its objectivity and what it stood for, while wishing to drive home a point against patriarchy which wasn’t a smooth transition either. Perhaps, they should have stopped at the ‘self pleasure’ angle. So overall, the screenplay here is enjoyable when it sticks to the sex comedy genre while missing a beat with its messaging.