There is a brand of movies that Akshay Kumar has done in the recent past that came as an entertaining package trying to give lectures to people about women’s issues and certain other societal misconceptions. Good Newwz directed by Raj Mehta somewhere falls under the same category. What if subjects similar to Vicky Donor and Badhaai Ho get a treatment similar to a Toilet Ek Prem Kadha or Padman? Good Newwz is perhaps the answer to that hypothetical question.
Varun Batra and Deepti Batra are a couple settled in Mumbai and they have been trying to have a kid for a while now. In the seventh year of their marriage, the couple decided to try IVF. But a huge mix up happens at the lab and the sperm and eggs get swapped with another Batras (Honey and Monika). How both the couples deal with this awkward situation is what the movie Good Newwz showing us. Don’t worry I haven’t spoiled the movie for you. All these things were there in the trailer.
Don’t worry if you happened to miss the first 5 minutes of the movie. It is basically Akshay Kumar doing an ad for Volkswagen (and every other car that appears in the movie comes without the company emblem). When you watch the movie, you will definitely get an idea that the writer of the movie Jyoti Kapoor is confident towards the end where the movie focuses sharply on the emotional aspect of pregnancy and parenting. It is actually the first half that invests in building the characters that look extremely superficial. Yes, you will laugh for some of the occasional dialogue counters, but this kind of a film slipping into a superficial dialogue comedy movie is not really a pleasant thing. Luckily there is a second half where the emotional bit takes over the content and the movie finally lands in its point of focus.
Akshay Kumar has a typical way of doing comedy and he is doing that for a major chunk of the screen time. There is a moment towards the end of the film where Varun breaks down and to be honest that transformation from being an extremely detached guy to a vulnerable person wasn’t that smooth. Kareena Kapoor was really good in my opinion. Remember that Punchnama monologues of Karthik Aryan? There is a similar (not the same degree) monologue by Kareena’s Deepu in the second half about the difficulties of a woman who is pregnant and it was really good. And her portrayal of the almost always angry Deepti never felt like an animated comedy movie acting. Diljith Dosanjh was okay being the open-hearted Honey and his inherent innocence helps him in being that character. Kiara Advani was also effective as the extremely naïve Monika and it was a character that wasn’t similar to the characters she has already done.
There is nothing cinematically exciting about the making style of Raj Mehta. He is obsessed with the frames being colorful. The lighting is always flat and bright. The CGI matted tacky backgrounds and not so appealing visual grammar proves the fact that the makers are totally depending on performances and the story. As I already said, it is in the second half the movie looks more exciting. The comedy and sentiments in the second half go in sync with the narrative. The movie is happening mostly in confined places and the artificial vibe of all those places takes away the relatable feel that is evident in most of the movies done by Ayushmann Khurrana. Songs aren’t that catchy and some of them were added forcefully to make it that “vacation entertainer”.
Good Newwz is more like a popcorn flick that you watch, laugh and forget. Stars like Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor being a part of a film that talks about IVF, ovulation, etc is indeed a good thing as their stardom will give the movie a wider and bigger audience. But in terms of the cinematic quality, this is just a passable fun film that’s not going to stay with you for a long time.
Good Newwz is more like a popcorn flick that you watch, laugh and forget.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
