Jyoti Kapoor, Raj Mehta, Rishabh Sharma – it took three people to write a comedy film that didn’t even turn out to be funny. Raj Mehta’s film Good Newwz (2019) is a trying-hard-to-be-funny film about two couples who opt for in-vitro fertilization and later find out that their sperms have been interchanged because of the same surnames of the two families.
The first pair of Batras is Deepti Batra (Kareena Kapoor), a senior journalist and her husband Varun Batra (Akshay Kumar), an automobile salesperson who live in Mumbai. The first half of Good Newwz (2019) is all about Deepti desperately wanting a baby and pestering her husband to get things done.
Similar to Good Newwz (2019): Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore
In Good Newwz (2019), this information is clearly delivered through one scene but unfortunately, the script goes on and on around the same point. By the time the director feels he has driven home the point, you are almost begging for the film to move ahead in its narrative.
The second half of Good Newwz (2019) is better than the first half. It introduces the other Batras – the silly, loud and do-not-understand-English couple from Chandigarh – Honey Batra (Diljit Dosanjh) and Monika Batra (Kiara Advani). Honey Batra calls ‘sperm’ ‘spam’ and Monika’s degree is in ‘English horrors’. Monika too, like Deepti has been trying to get pregnant and her predicament has been a seven year long affair with two miscarriages.
Good Newwz (2019) progresses to depict the confusion and chaos when the sperms of the two families get interchanged. The major chunk of the film is the complete nonsense and erratic behaviour of the two families in reaching an acceptance of what has happened. In all its attempts, the little humour that makes the film lighthearted and bearable are the good comic timings of the performances.
Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar as always, are great in their roles. Diljit Dosanjh and Kiara Advani are at their best too and help bring to surface the little humour of the script. Had it not been the good acting, the film wouldn’t be half as whatever little good it is. Adil Hussain and Tisca Chopra in their supporting roles also contribute in a big way to Good Newwz (2019).
Towards the end of Good Newwz (2019) the mayhem about the sperm exchange almost comes to a close and the film edges on being a tear jerker but brutally fails. Background music has been exaggerated along with some slow motion and close up shots but to no genuine emotion arousing in the audience.
As Good Newwz (2019) draws to the end, one is still confused about what exactly did the director want to say through the film. It propagates the idea of child-bearing being the ultimate aim of a woman’s life. And not just this, the idea of ‘apna khoon toh apna hi hota hai’ has been reversed and overpowered by the idea of child bearing and the miracle of birth. Probably, the director wanted to say that for a woman, bearing and birthing a child is more important than the fact that it is their own child.
Must Read: 10 Best Hindi Films of 2019
Good Newwz (2019) is not so much of a good news for Indian cinema. For films with similar themes, Badhaai Ho and Vicky Donor were far better. Not only did they give out their messages in a better way but were also highly entertaining. With the last Bollywood release of the year, we hope Indian cinema brings us more good news than Good Newwz (2019) in 2020.
Good Newwz (2019) Rating: ★★
Good Newwz (2019) Links: IMDb, Wikipedia
