Bad Newz (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – A crazy laugh riot which will show the outcomes of two sophisticated Punjabi men and a Punjabi girl. One of the men has a one night stand with the girl and somehow, craziness happens when she is pregnant unexpectedly.

My Take – The year 2019 saw the release of Dharma Productions‘ Good Newwz, a hilarious comedy revolving around an IVF mix-up which resulted in two men mistakenly impregnating each other’s wives.

Now five years later, with a new creative team and fresh cast, we have another pregnancy story, this time revolving around heteropaternal superfecundation, a reproductive process in which twin children are born to the same mother, but from different biological fathers. Supposedly, inspired by true events.

But while the Raj Mehta directorial scored on all fronts with a strong script and the superb comic timing of Akshay Kumar and Diljit Dosanjh, this Anand Tiwari (Maja Ma, Love per Square Foot) directed spiritual sequel is more of a hit-and-miss-entertainer.

Though the truly novel premise and the hilarious rivalry between Vicky Kaushal and Ammy Virk elevate the proceedings, it’s sappy and over the top execution hampers the overall result, especially when the plot takes familiar turns and stretches in the second half. Leaving one wishing that the film should have just stuck to the plot’s endearing silliness and just embraced a natural culmination, without veering into unnecessary tracks.

Even the soundtrack, whose catchy tunes send the film’s hype into overdrive in the last few weeks prior release, surprisingly disrupt the narrative flow due to their awkward placements. Nevertheless, the witty dialogues and Vicky Kaushal‘s spot-on comedic timing ensure you’re consistently entertained.

The story follows Saloni Bagga (Triptii Dimri), a highly motivated chef in Delhi, whose biggest goal in life is to earn a Meraki star for herself and the restaurant that employs her. Though, she has no plans to settle down, at a glitzy Punjabi mixers party, Saloni ends up falling for Akhil Chadha (Vicky Kaushal), a loud, brash, self-involved and silly chaap restaurant owner. While she initially rejects Akhil’s advances to focus on her career, his boisterous charm does its wonders and soon the two are married.

But, it doesn’t take long for Saloni to realize that her husband is too tied to his mother (Sheeba Chaddha) and doesn’t really get the concept of personal space. And when she loses her beloved job after a few skirmishes, she ends up asking for a divorce.

To grieve and repair from the death of her relationship, Saloni moves and starts working at a hotel in Mussoorie, where she meets its kind-hearted owner, Gurbir (Ammy Virk), who is everything Akhil is not, and grows close to him. On the night of their supposed wedding anniversary, upon finding out that Akhil has moved on, in a fit of drunken jealousy, Saloni ends up forcing Gurbir into a one-night stand.

However, Akhil too arrives the same night at Mussoorie, asking for her forgiveness, hoping to reconcile, and the two end up sleeping together. Six weeks later, she is pregnant and that hers’ is a rare case of heteropaternal superfecundation, i.e., both Akhil and Gurbir are fathers to Saloni’s unborn twins.

The rest of the film is all about the one-upmanship between the two men who want to play father and one sulking mother-to-be who must decide their fate. This is an interesting, never-before-explored plot for a Hindi film. But, it takes over an hour to reach this point, and before that, we’re subjected to a failing marital drama and the most contrived of one-night two-stands.

The plot might not surprise you, but the film shines in its outrageous humor. While the script and screenplay remain on uneven ground, director Anand Tiwari and writers Ishita Moitra and Tarun Dudeja pepper the narrative with humor situations and one-liners, ensuring you are chuckling throughout.

Everything is designed for laughs, even at the expense of the central theme. Everything happens at a breakneck speed and it works till it doesn’t. The problem arrives when the film runs out of pop-culture references to hide behind and is forced to stand on its feet.

While their most recent release, Kill (2024), discarded everything what classified as a Dharma Production film, this one follows the template to the t, at times too closely. In the sense, it is dotted with Punjabi songs, designed with a gaudy aesthetic and unfolds with one self-referencing after another. Most surprisingly, the popular songs, which were expected to be a relief from all the ludicrousness that was unfolding on screen, end up working as working as mostly hiccups in an already patchy screenplay.

To its credit, writers Ishita Moitra and Tarun Dudeja sidesteps the misogyny that such a setting provokes. None of the two men shame Saloni, her parents don’t get involved till much later and it appears that she has the agency to take the call about her pregnancy and who the father should be. It also rejects possessive men, patriarchal rules, and foregrounds women’s dreams, desires and ambitions beyond family, husband, and child.

It mainly helps that the film is anchored by Vicky Kaushal who channels his inner Govinda to deliver a highly energetic performance that showcases his comic timing. If you haven’t yet been impressed by his acting prowess yet, his aptitude for comedy might change your mind. Punjabi superstar Ammy Virk is winsome and brings overall credibility to his character portrayal. A start contrast to Kaushal’s loud flamboyance, it’s this mismatch that makes the war between the two fun to watch.

Triptii Dimri balances the light and emotional portions beautifully while adding glamour to the proceedings. After seeing her in darker and serious roles in Laila Majnu (2018), Bulbbul (2020), Qala (2022) and Animal (2023), at first, it feels a little odd to see her in such space, yet, she eases herself well into the mold, shining the most in the serious portions.

In supporting roles, Neha Dhupia and Sheeba Chaddha are underutilized, while Ananya Panday and Neha Sharma appear in decent cameos. On the whole, ‘Bad Newz’ is a hit-and-miss-entertainer bolstered by a delightful Vicky Kaushal.