Movie Review : Vicky Donor

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 5 minutes
Director : Shoojit Sircar
Cast : Ayushmann Khurana, Yaami Gautam, Dolly Ahluwalia, Kamlesh Gill, Annu Kapoor, Jayant Das
Kid rating : PG-13

You’ve probably heard the seminal jokes already – I tweeted some of them. Yes, indeed Bollywood has gone ahead and made a film on, er . . sperms. Kind of awkward if you think about it, because for all it’s item girls and double entendres, we never actually get down the technical aspects of baby-making. Thankfully the film handles the subject without any awkwardness or crudity, and doesn’t go down the David Dhawan-esque road it could have.

Vicky Khurana (Ayushman Khurana) is the loutish Delhi boy, desiring class, money and a job. In the meanwhile, this good-natured Lajpat Nagar lad lives in a barsaati, and subsists on his beauty-parlor-owning mummy’s income, helping her occasionally with threading and pedicures and such-like. One day he is approached by fertility specialist Dr. Chaddha (Annu Kapoor) who persuades him to donate sperm. Vicky, initially hesitant, warms to the idea once he is handed financial remuneration for his services. All is well – Vicky has his money and Dr. Chaddha has high quality sperm for his rich clients – until Vicky falls in love with Ashima (Yami Gautam) and they decide to marry. Dr. Chaddha is beset with worry at the thought of his sperm-well drying up, while Vicky is busy dealing with wedding woes and an ironical twist of fate . . .

I saw John Abraham, the producer of this film, on television where he said that if even one person would go see this film, they would make a profit. He must be laughing all the way to the bank right now, as he must, because the lead pair are both big-screen debutantes and probably charged pittances. Ayushmann, an MTV Roadies winner, is better known for his MTV VJ-ing and his television show hosting – I remember seeing him anchor the Hrithik Roshan, Farha Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant dance competition reality show “Just Dance” where he did an excellent job of providing structure and comic relief. He is an excellent actor, mouthing Delhi-speak with ease. And though I can’t say that I was floored by his charm, since I consider him far from the “handsome hero” image, he does have an easy-going, good-natured sort of appeal.

Yami Gautam, the heroine, is a brown-eyed beauty. A good actress, she plays her character of strait-laced Bengali bank officer Ashima Roy with a great deal of charm and innocence. In supporting cast I’ve got to talk about Dolly Ahluwalia and Kamlesh Gill who play Vicky’s mom and grandmom, respectively. Both are fabulous and exude excellent chemistry as the sometimes-friend-sometimes-carping-foe mother-in-law-daughter-in-law pair. Even the actors who played Ashima’s father and pishi-ma were a scream.

Although the acting and direction was good overall, credit must go where it is due – to the great screenplay and characterization. The film doesn’t have a very strong story, but you never seem to notice that since it glides along ever so smoothly. The characters were expertly drawn; the Lajpat Nagar-ians spoke quintessential Lajpat-Nagar-ese; sperm-donation was by turns “gandaa kaam“, or “phuddu kaam“. Vicky’s mom speaks Delhi-ite Punjabi, with lots of English thrown in. Biji was the adorable grandmother, given to liberal views and a penchant for flat-screen televisions, 32 GB iPhones and alcohol. Culture wars (Punju-Bengali) ring true; while Ashima’s dad and pishi-ma have a fit at Ashima falling for a “culture-less” Punjabi boy, Vicky’s mom is aghast at her prospective bahu being a fish-eating Bengalan.

This film has some fabulous music. The melodious “Pani da” has been composed and sung by Ayushmann himself. “Mar Jayian” is another gorgeous love ballad. The film ends with a Bhangra-beat-based item number “Rum and Whisky” with John and the cast. The first half of the film was pure a-laugh-a-minute joy and refreshingly enjoyable. The second half was OK, but the climax went the traditional, “emotional” way, which was kind of disappointing – and the reason I’m going with a 3.5 rating, instead of a full 4 stars. Regardless, I am strongly recommending a watch on this one.

Kidwise : This film is pretty clean – almost family-friendly, if your family has older children. It does have a few lip locks, and a brief 2-second lovemaking scene. No vulgarity, or double meaning dialogues here, although there is plenty of “sperm talk”, and various diagrams/car ornaments/balloons of the motile little creatures themselves (LOL!) so if you’re taking younger kids, be warned that they might have a few questions!