Home » Reviews » Bad Newz review: Vicky Kaushal and Triptii Dimri's film is double the dads, half the fun
Bad Newz review: Vicky Kaushal and Triptii Dimri's film is double the dads, half the fun
Bad Newz review: Anand Tiwari's directorial breaks with comedy conventions, but not in a good way.
2.0/5
Jul 18, 2024
Bad Newz review
Bad Newz story:
Heteropaternal superfecundation is the subject of Bad Newz, an unusual comedy. Tragically, Saloni Bagga (Triptii Dimri) becomes pregnant with twins, and Akhil Chadha (Vicky Kaushal) and Gurbeer Pannu (Ammy Virk) end up being the fathers. This sets off a wild competition for her affection and custody of their children. There is mayhem as Akhil and Gurbeer compete for Saloni's love.
Bad Newz review:
In most of the scenes where Vicky Kaushal and Ammy Virk's characters fight by getting into metaphorical situations, Triptii Dimri, as Saloni Bagga, asks them to stop at once and make things all about themselves. That's what Bad Newz is all about! The film adopts a narcissistic approach, focusing solely on male characters and their issues, while the female lead appears to yearn for attention, seemingly trapped in a quiet room. In Good Newwz (2019), Kareena Kapoor Khan shuts down Akshay Kumar's character with a monologue about pregnancy and what women go through. However, in Bad Newz, Dimri's character narrowly misses the opportunity to fully express herself.
Ishita Moitra (of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani) and Tarun Dudeja (of Dhak Dhak) wrote the film, which explores heteropaternal superfecundation in detail. The very first scene introduces this concept. It appears that the idea of creating a biopic on Saloni Bagga was added later after the release of Animal, as it referenced Bhabhi No. 2 and National Crush, the names Dimri gained online.
Similar to Good Newwz, which opens with references from Friends, Bad Newz also follows a similar path, featuring Ross' love-bombing of Rachel after she begins working at Bloomingdale. As a result, the plot of both films is so similar that it's two male characters fighting among themselves, one with a higher ego than the other. Additionally, Bad Newz takes a considerable amount of time to initiate the plot, resulting in a build-up that ultimately yields no results.
Bad Newz shows Saloni and Akhil falling in love instantly and getting married in no time. However, due to frequent disruptions at her workplace and her lack of personal space, they parted ways after a period of six months. Indeed, in this peculiar scenario, one of the men is her ex-husband, while Gurbeer serves as her boss at a new hotel in Mussoorie. In one intoxicated night, their lives change as Saloni eventually becomes pregnant with twins, and both men pass the paternity test in a rare case.
Shah Rukh Khan films, particularly Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dil To Pagal Hai, serve as a rich source of meta references in Bad Newz. Almost every romantic movie featuring the superstar incorporates references in a scene or song, such as Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam from the underrated film Duplicate (1998). At a certain point, it appears so contrived that the filmmakers believed Shah Rukh's popularity would distract them from the film's uninteresting plot.
After such a drab first half, the second half's plot becomes so predictable that you want to know what happens and how they handle the babies' birth. Only the build-up and unnecessary sub-plots diminish the impact of the emotional angle, which is a necessary element in these types of films. While comedies transport us to the Hera Pheri era, we should revisit those films rather than new ones that fail to properly incorporate 90s jokes.
Anand Tiwari, who has previously directed the films Maja Ma and Love Per Square Foot, also helmed the series Bang Baaja Baaraat and Bandish Bandits. To be honest, all these projects have a peculiar structure that results in more misses than hits. However, given the screenplay by Moitra and Dudeja, one might anticipate an increase in Tiwari's directing, but this doesn't materialise.
The main male character and their ego receive the most energy from the film's twists and turns, while the female lead merely acts as a catalyst, serving solely to advance the plot.
Vicky Kaushal's portrayal of Akhil Chadda elevates the West Delhite snob to a level that borders on annoying, just as the character aspires to be. At first, the character seemed to embody the energy of Ranveer Singh's Band Baaja Baaraat character, but later, the actor added his own charm to the role. However, the childish quirks begin to irritate, and the redemption arc also lacks credibility.
On the other hand, Ammy Virk, as Gurbeer Pannu, hardly brings anything to the table. Ammy Virk's role primarily serves to promote heteropaternal superfecundation, offering no additional value. The actor's weak performance limits his dialogue, which doesn't get more complex as the story turns.
Meanwhile, this is Triptii Dimri's first out-and-out comedy, and she does bring out her humorous side. We saw her bawling and frowning in her earlier works, which continue here. However, the humorous and boisterous aspects are enjoyable, albeit to a limited degree.
Overall, Kaushal manages to overshadow everyone with his mere presence, and it seems like the film has been tailor-made only for him and no one else.
After a long time, there are certain songs that will stay in the film, and after a long time, I witnessed people at the press screening stay back to watch Tauba Tauba on the big screen.
Remember Anand Tiwari's famous TV commercial where he serves tea outside a theatre as people skip voting and head for a movie screening? It is likely that the actor-filmmaker also needs to "Jaago Re" and get out of these bizarre plot-led films.
Bad Newz verdict:
Overstuffed with subplots and lacking genuine emotional depth, Bad Newz ends up being more of a headache than a headline.
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