'Bad Newz' review: Smart meta-humor, but the film falls flat
When Karan Johar's Good Newwz came out, I massively enjoyed it for its cast ensemble, Akshay Kumar's return to comedy, and the points it drove home about pregnancy's overglorification and its effect on women. Its spiritual successor, Anand Tiwari's Bad Newz, however, can't boast of these merits, and barring Vicky Kaushal's excellence and its meta-humor, there's not much fun to have here.
This is what happens in 'Bad Newz'
Saloni (Triptii Dimri) is swept off her feet by Akhil (Kaushal); after a rushed romance, they get married, only for it to end in (spoiler) divorce. Soon, she finds solace in Gurbir (Ammy Virk), her manager, and six weeks later, she finds herself pregnant with twins, with the doctor explaining that it's the case of heteropaternal superfecundation and both Akhil and Gurbir are fathers!
Meaning: What does the term imply?
Per the National Library of Medicine, "Heteropaternal superfecundation is an extremely rare phenomenon that occurs when a second ova released during the same menstrual cycle is additionally fertilized by the sperm cells of a different man in separate sexual intercourse." It is "rarely observed" among humans and the makers have reportedly based the film on a true story.
Positives: Everything works in the beginning
Bad Newz captures your attention for most of the first half when it establishes Saloni's and Akhil's characters (his more than hers). Flashy outfits, massive sets, bling all around—it's concretely set within the tried-and-tested framings of a Dharma Productions film. Although Akhil-Saloni's "love" transpires over a few meetings, it's still sold well by Kaushal, who's on a mission to break his "serious actor" image.
More on how Kaushal embraces his character
If, despite its flaws, BD doesn't make you want to walk out of the theater, it's solely because of Kaushal. He's clearly having the time of his life in this film, and this role is what he wanted The Great Indian Family and the awful Govinda Naam Mera to be. His character is rooted in West Delhi stereotypes, but still sparkling, vivacious, and humane.
Most of its meta-humor is funny and smartly written
Referencing contemporary films and relying on meta-humor can be a hit-and-miss, and mostly depends on dialogue delivery. While a cameo by a contemporary actor in the beginning is underwhelming, at least she gets laugh-out-loud meta references like Dimri being called "National Crush" and "Bhabhi 2." Another Mohabbatein tribute in the climax is over-the-top but still worth a chuckle. Thanks, again, Kaushal.
But, are these strengths enough?
However, these positives are not sturdy enough, and the film falls apart post-interval. Random situations, flimsy scenes, unfunny, lame jokes, and repetitive storytelling techniques are stitched to extract "humor," but they do nothing except undercut the gravity of the plot. Merging drama and comedy is a hard task, and Bad Newz fails at it. If only it had learned something from JugJugg Jeeyo.
Pointless background score worsens the viewer's experience
There are multiple Punjabi characters, so, obviously, they drink often, talk about gedis, and have an ear-piercing background score follow them in every scene! Such scores, tailored to characters, are annoying, pointless, and do nothing to support the movie. Plus, when films are so over-reliant on such scores, it simply implies the makers aren't confident enough in the scenes' abilities to fly themselves.
Post-interval, everything is repetitive and uninteresting
Much of the screenplay looks like it was written as an afterthought, without much seriousness and without worrying about whether it has any semblance of coherence. Logic dies a painful death more than once, Gurbir-Akhil's clash, which starts interestingly, turns into a fight you couldn't care less for, and the film huffs and puffs because it's so hollow, so full of superficiality, so toothless.
The final product is far from satisfying
By the time the movie reaches—or rather, crawls toward the finish line—the awry screenplay, filled with worthless moments where things transpire for no rhyme or reason, tests your patience so much that your heart is already elsewhere. BN tries to underline the issue of a child's "ownership" and how the father's identity ties to the child's "izzat," but this messaging simply fizzles out.
Can watch on OTT once for Kaushal; 2/5 stars
BN has a somewhat promising start, and Kaushal and Dimri give it their all to salvage this sinking ship, but what can be done if the ship has holes in it all along? Virk looks like he would rather be somewhere else, the supporting characters are almost nonexistent, and the blandness is redolent of Rocky Aur Rani... Not worth a trip to the theater.
