Ayushmann Khurrana’s role-reversal and transforming into a woman is nothing less than terrific. The man along with Annu Kapoor delivered punch worthy dialogue with such brilliant comic timing, that it will be hard for you not to laugh. With a predictable message at the end of the film, this rib-tickling movie is destined to be a solid hit — and the credit goes to Raaj Shaandilyaa and Nirmaan D Singh for the script and dialogues.

Director: Raaj Shaandilyaa
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Nushrat Barucha, Annu Kapoor, Manjot Singh, Vijay Raaz, Nidhi Bisht, Rajesh Sharma
Genre: Romantic-Comedy
Date released: September 13, 2019
IBFC rating: U/A
Duration: 2 hours 5 minutes

Reviewer rating: 4/5

Setting the scene

The movie begins with a kid trying to save his friend from bashing by pretending to be his mother because he has failed in his exams. Cut to, enters Ayushmann Khurrana who is forced to play Sita’s role in a local street play since he was a kid because the man can talk in a woman's voice. Story shifts when there is a loan to repay and Khurrana then starts looking for a job. And after many failed attempts he ends up at a ‘friendship call center’ where he is now ‘Pooja’.

Plot

‘Duniya mein har koi galat hota hai, lekin sahi wo hi hai jo kam galat hai’: A thought that builds the entire film in a beautiful way. Director Raaj Shaandilyaa till the longest time in the films doesn’t reveal Ayushmann’s character name and he is ‘Pooja’ throughout. What does Pooja do? She (he) works in a call center where her job is to talk to people and listen to them. Problem in the film occurs when 5 different clients of Pooja fall in love with her and basically professional and personal life intertwine with each other.

Shayari driven cop Rajpal Kirar ( played by Vijay Raaz) who is in an unhappy marriage, a simple Brahmachari Mahendra (played by Abhishek Banerjee), ‘Gokul’s Justin Bieber’, as Ayushmann rightly says,  (played by Raj Bhansal), magazine editor Roma (played by Nidhi Bisht) who has lost faith in men after three break-ups and finally, Annu Kapoor (who plays Ayushmann’s father) – they all fall in love with ‘Pooja’ or lets say ‘Karam’ – Ayushmann Khurrana’s character.

In a world where people are fixated on social media and want to project their perfect life, in reality, doesn’t really have friends or people they can confide and talk to. Where loneliness is growing by the day, a ‘Pooja’ is born. Ayushmann rightly concludes the film by saying that ‘Pooja’ has no gender and it can be literally anyone with whom you can share your heart to.

Verdict

An almost-perfect romantic-comedy Bollywood has produced in recent times.  A quirky comedy that is sure to win your heart in more ways than one. Just as on-point and perfect the first half was, the second half was flawed. With Nushrat Barucha and Ayushmann's half-baked love story with no chemistry, the movie showed an uneven screenplay with so many characters put in one frame. An entertainer not to be missed!

What works: The dialogues are hilarious and will leave you teary-eyed because you are going to laugh so hard! Annu Kapoor and Ayushmann Khurrana’s pairing is precious. Looks like Khurrana is on a roll and can literally pull off any character in the simplest ways – and let’s not forget, his 10,000 expressions as a man or a woman, are to die for!

What doesn’t work: Ayushmann and Mahi (played by Nushrat Barucha)’s love story – unusual and totally wrapped in one song isn't convincing. The chemistry was bland and didn’t come across as real. Secondly, a few scenes felt stretched and gave quite a Priyadarshan-film vibe, which was unnecessarily forced. And thirdly, the climax which was quite predictable right from the beginning.

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