Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan Review: A Crowd Pleaser!

Breaking both boundaries and B-town stereotypes all together, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is one of Bollywood’s very first movies (‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ being the other one) that positively display the LGBTQ community more respectably. The two-hour romantic comedy explores the journey of an openly gay couple – Kartik and Aman trying to convince the latter’s strictly conservative family about their relationship amidst some massive family drama and sensitive characters. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan Review

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Aside from the significant social aspects of the film, let’s first discuss the entertainment side of things the film had to offer. For the entire duration of the 117-minute runtime, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan had quite a lot to offer in terms of comedy, that partly worked and got misfired at the same time. Especially in the first thirty minutes, the jokes worked, and the dialogue came off as funny, at least for me.

But, as things started to settle in, the pacing of the film felt off, and the heavy emphasis on the family drama side of things began to draw out the narrative a bit. However, despite the screenwriting issues, the unique and ballsy storyline kept things intact and did not churn out to be something that is easily predictable. It took a few interesting turns occasionally and made the ending seem effective.

Moving on to the primary theme and the subject of the film, compared to the 2008 romcom – Dostana – that represented a gay relationship more comically, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan felt like a broad improvement and a step in the right direction for a wide variety of reasons. First off, it doesn’t commercialize or make fun of certain aspects like how the couple fell in love with each other or how they communicate with each other in public places without the awkward gestures or facial reactions. It makes it clear from the very beginning that these guys are truly in love with each other and care for their feelings similar to any other couple.

It fearlessly breaks stereotypes (take the first make-out session as an example), and normalizes the fact that love can materialize between a couple of the same sex. The narrative also takes time to educate and familiarize a bunch of things to its audience, which isn’t that awkward as they seem to be. Accompanied by the gay angle, the movie also attempts to showcase other common conceptions that we Indian people still carry out in 2020. Be it the concept of an arranged marriage, following the age-old traditions, and thoughts that clearly do not work substantially in this day and age.

The characters and the performances from the cast were yet another significant features of the movie as I had a blast watching every single one of them on-screen. Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao, who stole the show in 2018’s Badhaai Ho, did not miss a beat and are delightful to watch once again as this conservative couple who can’t catch a break with the family drama all around. Maanvi Gagroo as Goggles is the dark horse of the film, and remarkably portrayed her interesting character.

However, the chemistry between the lead couple outclassed everything else as Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar are believable, adorable, and charming to watch from the beginning till the very end. The complete contrast between their characters made it more unique, with Ayushmann playing the filmy, uber-cool guy and Jitendra being more of the innocent, shy personality, who hesitates to make decisions. Their performances are more on the decent side of things as the storyline didn’t require an Oscar-worthy display.

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Overall, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is a crowd-pleaser despite having some screenwriting and pacing issues. The comedy is on-point for the most part, and the characters were offered with quite a few moments to shine bright and entertain. Additionally, the core storyline of the film was executed properly as the filmmaker took it seriously and illustrated it with respect. This film is a win-win for both the LGBTQ community and Indian Cinema, which is only getting better with time.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

Images via Colour Yellow Productions

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