Good Newwz movie review: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor deliver a complete entertainer
Good Newwz movie review: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani film is enjoyable despite having a serious subject at its heart.
Good Newwz
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani
Director: Raj Mehta
Good Newwz brings glad tidings– we get a talented cast led by Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan, a story that resonates with parents and those desperate to begin their family, and a delightful mix of comedy and emotions that never gets preachy.
Debut director Raj Mehta deals with a rather serious subject of two couples opting for IVF (In-vitro Fertilisation) with a generous mix of comedy and emotions. An urban comedy with its heart in the right place, Good Newwz just hits the right spot.
Watch: Good Newwz | No Rating Movie Review | Akshay Kumar | Kareena Kapoor Khan | Diljit Dosanjh | Kiara Advani
The basic premise of Good Newwz was established in trailer itself. There are the posh Batras — a high-flying journalist Deepti (Kareena) and a sales executive Varun (Akshay) versus the loud Batras — homemaker Monika (Kiara Advani) and god-knows-what-does-he-do-for-a-living Honey (Diljit Dosanjh) from Chandigarh.
After several failed attempts at conceiving a baby naturally, both the couples consult Mumbai’s best fertility doctors (Adil Hussain and his wife Tisca Chopra) and opt for IVF. As they await the good news, the doctor shares a rather negligent sperm mix-up, leaving both the couples in a state of agony and helplessness. A series of hilarious events follow as the couples come to terms with the unusual situation they are in.
The deliberate light-hearted treatment of such a serious subject is entertaining. Even though Mehta gives ample scope to his actors to perform and do what they’re best at, he doesn’t let them step out of the vision he has for the film. Mehta, Jyoti Kapoor and Rishabh Sharma pen some clever and witty dialogues: just like the mix-up of sperms, there’s an uproarious mix-up of words too as sperm becomes spam, flush is pronounced as flesh, honours turns into hawners, morni becomes ovary, and so on. Having said that, a couple of off-track jokes do fall flat but thankfully they are few and far between.
Another thing that works in favour of Good Newwz is its straight narrative which doesn’t complicate the already complicated central premise. Even the transition from comedy to drama, especially in the last one hour, is so finely executed that you don’t realize when you get transported into another zone and when laughter takes a backseat and you feel tears of joys rolling down your cheeks.
The pace of the film is steady with enough high points in both the first and second half; I feel tighter editing, especially in the second half, could have made for a crisper watch. However, you can forgive this as the laughter it brings along is truly worth it.
The cast gets full marks for honest performances. Kareena yet again proves why she’s the best in the business. With a well etched out character, Kareena is especially impressive in the emotional portions. Her Deepti is real and when it comes to her dramatic reactions, no one comes close to how she does it.
Good Newwz again reminds us how good Akshay can be with comedy. In fact, you can call this one of his best comedic performances in the recent times, far from the Housefull brand of cinema. He plays a man-child but is okay taking sarcastic taunts from his wife on a daily basis. And those grey flecks in the hair are really working for him.
As for the other Batras, there’s nary a dull moment when Diljit is on screen. For someone who talks so less in real life, it’s quite an irony that his character has the maximum lines with boisterousness to boot. Kiara also picks up the nuances of her Punjabi character really well but never goes overboard as the flashy Punjabi she plays in the film.
The film keeps it real when it comes to showing urban relationships -- daily lives of married couples, their fights, worries, wanting to have kids and careers etc. Monika is addressed as Moni and Deepti’s husband only calls her Deepu, you know that they’re trying to be as real as possible.
On the flipside, Good Newwz thrives on clichés – whether it is Diljit-Kiara who are loud and flashy as they are from Chandigarh or Delhiites flaunting their brands. Also, in today’s day and age, dialogues such as ‘being pregnant is a blessing for any woman’ or ‘apna khoon/baccha apna hota hai’ feel regressive and out of date.
Music and dance sequences are fun and captivating though two of them in the second half somewhat deviate from the storytelling. Of course, Chandigarh Mein with a special appearance from Karan Johar, Badshah and Hardy Sandhu was magical and saved for the end credits.
All in all, Good Newwz has the right mix of ingredients and makes for a timely entertainer in this season of cheer. Not preachy or over the top, this light-hearted comic caper is the perfect way to end the year with. It is good news indeed for the audience.
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