Rating : Average (2.7/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2019
Running time : 2 hours 12 minutes
Director : Raj Mehta
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, Kiara Advani, Adil Hussain, Tisca Chopra
Kidwise : PG-15
Good Newwz milks the idea of IVF-mixups for comedy. In the film 2 couples both with the surname of Batra – Varun and Deepti (Akshay and Kareena), and Honey and Monika (Diljit and Kiara) go to the same IVF clinic run by the Drs Joshi (Adil Hussain and Tisca Chopra). However the clinic mismatches the egg and sperm, causing each Mrs Batra to be impregnated with the sperm of the other Mr. Batra.
The film then proceeds to tell us what happens when the hopeful couples hear of this. Varun and Deepti can’t countenance the overtly Punjabi (per Bollywood this is loud demeanor, flashy furniture, and a penchant for joviality) Batra couple from Chandigarh. So when Honey and Monika decide to move into the apartment atop theirs to watch over “their” child, tempers flare, and things go downhill from there.
While the initial setup is amusing – Varun and Deepti are city-bred professionals, while Honey and Monika are portrayed as simple-minded, wealthy yokels – this hilarity soon gets old. There are some actually funny moments, but on the whole there is precious little happening in the film. The first half flies by in the setup, but the second half drags. Good Newwz is about 2 hours long but that is 1 hour too many.
We atleast get a sense of who Varun and Deepti are – Honey and Monika are merely shallow props for the comedy. And because this is a Dharma production, each punchline is accompanied by sound effects. Good Newwz gets annoying and stupid pretty fast, and is saved only by the comic timing of its 4 stars and Adil Hussain and Tisca Chopra (of Chutney fame) who manage to make the best of some dumb dialogs and situations. Besides all that, you also get mucho moralizing: sermons on how motherhood is the most fulfilling role of a woman, and of how abortion is a sin.
Good Newwz is at best a one-time watch – brave it if you will.
Kidwise: Some bird-and-bees talk and implied action. Also detailed descriptions of the IVF procedure. The film does not devolve into vulgarity like it could have – Thank Heaven for small mercies!
