The story of “Good Newwz” has parallel cinema written all over it. It could have been a great plot for a serious, dark and thought-provoking film about the suffering of couples who cannot conceive naturally. But give this story to Karan Johar and his team of flamboyant producers, and you get ‘Good Newwz’ starring the money-making machine of Bollywood Akshay Kumar along with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Kiara Advani.
Two couples—Honey and Monika Batra (Diljit and Kiara) and Varun and Deepti Batra (Akshay and Kareena)—are married for six and seven years respectively. Both are childless, and not for the want of trying. The two Punjabi families face immense social pressure to have children. Given their biological problems, their only option is in-vitro fertilizations (IVF). Not acquainted with each other before, they are forced to meet at the hospital because of a huge mix-up caused by their same surnames.
This leads to all the confusion and the ruckus that ensues, and how the couples deal with the problems surrounding the big mishap is what the plot is all about. Written by Jyoti Kapoor and directed by debutant Raj Mehta, GN is an entertaining package of humor, emotions, and foot-tapping Punjabi music. It is a family movie that will make you smile, chuckle, giggle, and maybe cry a little too.
GN’s story basically addresses the growing issue of infertility among couples owing to lifestyles and other biological factors. Science has progressed enough to help them artificially conceive and that’s what Dr Joshi (Adil Hussain) says, translated, “Helping parents make babies is an art.”
The filmmakers take a witty approach to story-telling, making it an enjoyable comedy where IVF is explained in the simplest terms and the social pressure of being childless is perfectly illustrated. The physical and mental exertions that women go through during pregnancy as well as the less talked about psychological struggles of a father are also shown convincingly. All with a tasty bit of wit and humor. GN unfolds so rapidly that you’re entertained for the whole 2hrs 12min of the film, which is not short by any means.
Besides the on-point writing and direction, individual performances of the actors add to the already strong script. Akshay proves again why he’s the most bankable actor in the industry. From action films to senseless comedies to social dramas to inspiring biopics, he does it all with equal finesse and box-office success. In GN, Akshay’s Varun is a straightforward, no-nonsense husband who comes across as insensitive at times. But he is also a loving husband and a witty person whose coping mechanism is humor. With almost 200 commercial movies under his belt, Akshay plays his part with an ease that makes one feel that might well be Varun in real life.
Kareena as Deepti, making a comeback after a brief hiatus, is an equal match for Akshay. As a nagging wife whose biological clock is ticking and who desperately wants to conceive, Deepti is strong-headed, bossy and focused on achieving her goal. Where Kareena as Deepti specially excels is in emotions. She has matchless in the movie when it comes to dramatic scenes and she keeps the audience gripped at all times about Deepti’s fate.
Diljit as the stereotypical, loud-mouthed, kind-hearted sardaar straight outta Chandigarh is the most lovable character in the movie. Like Varun, Diljit’s Honey is oblivious to emotions and even insults, and he can easily make people laugh at him. Varun is a ‘solid character’ and Diljit manages to personify him with brilliance. Coming from the Punjabi movie industry, Diljit’s trysts in Bollywood has finally given him the success he can be proud of.
With so many talented actors, Kiara, also a central character in the movie, is underwhelming. Coming from the success of last year’s “Kabir Singh”, where she played the shy and indecipherable Preeti, Kiara as “Monika” in GN can’t seem to match the energy of her co-actors. She is neither hilarious enough in humorous scenes nor emotionally capable of holding together her character in the dramatic bits.
The fast-paced and outright hilarious film in the first half gets a little slower and melodramatic in the second. But that is excusable, given the seriousness of the matter at hand. The emotional scenes are not too draining and, in fact, enjoyable because of Kareena.
Who should watch it?
The film is entirely about spams, oops, sperms and ovaries. There’s a lot of talk about reproductive organs (not only the genitals) and copulation but no cringy double meaning jokes and sexualized representations. So nothing to make a Nepali family watching it together feel awkward. We highly recommend this movie, and a little PSA—when you meet that newly married couple again and feel like asking them about “good news”, please don’t!
Rating: 4 stars
Run time: 2hrs 12mins
Director: Raj Mehta
Actors: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khana, Diljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani
Genre: Comedy/Drama
