First of all one needs to applaud Vaani Kapoor for doing this film, not just because of the nature of her role, but because since the beginning of her career, people have made fun of her and called her a woman with the looks of a man. Imagine the state of mind of an actress, who is approached for a role because she looks like a man. Vaani Kapoor needs to be praised for taking up this challenge, knowing very well that the jokes and memes about her will only increase after this decision of hers. The courage that she has shown by taking up this role is truly admirable.
This is Ayushmann Khurrana's first release in almost 18 months, and I am really glad that this break happened in his life, because I believe it has really helped his cause. Ayushmann Khurrana does a number of films on different subjects, but the big problem is that the stories change, his role remains the same in every single film of his. He always plays a young man with an attitude and delivers his dialogues in the same way in every single film. The conclusion that one draws from this is that Ayushmann's acting range is limited, and that's why he just keeps repeating himself. On top of that he keeps doing movies at regular intervals, which can lead to the audience getting bored of you. Ayushmann has a very likeable screen presence, but he must space out his films and try to reinvent himself through every film.
This break really helped, because now we were all looking forward to watching Ayushmann once again, and the actor himself has worked hard to present himself in a fresh new avatar. A fantastic step taken by the writers and director is that they have used Ayushmann as a representation of every single person in our country. When the truth unfolds itself in front of Manvinder, he reacts like most individuals would. The director is showing us through Ayushmann, everything that he says, everything that he does, the entire range of emotions that he goes through, from anger to confusion, from love to hatred, and ultimately the realization, all of that would happen to any person across the world. We see ourselves in him. Needless to say, Ayushmann has done a fantastic job in the film. His confident portrayal of Manvinder adds a lot of excitement to every single scene that he's in.
The music of the film is fantastic, it's something that very rarely happens in a Bollywood film, but it has happened this time thanks to Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya, better known as Sachin - Jigar. The song 'Kheech Te Nach' is an outstanding song that is bound to raise your excitement levels and get you moving. The choreography on 'Kheech Te Nach' compliments the song and the situation in the film perfectly.
A key criticism of the film is that why wasn't an actual transgender woman taken up for the movie, which in my opinion does not make sense, simply because if you are making a film on cricket, you don't really go out looking for a cricketer, if your scene requires you to drink alcohol you don't really start drinking alcohol or pick up a heavy drinker. An actor portrays the role that he or she gets to the best of his/her abilities, that's what acting is all about.
Finally we need to talk about Vaani Kapoor, an actress who has been around for quite some time but hadn't been offered even a single good role or an author backed role until this film. Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui gave her the toughest role of her career and she has nailed it perfectly. The scene in which she breaks down in front of Ayushmann, feels extremely natural, the emotions displayed in that moment seem very real. In that scene, Vaani has perfectly portrayed the state of mind of a girl who is watching her dreams getting shattered in front of her eyes. Not once does she come across as weak actress, and you end up surprised wondering as to why she hasn't been offered good quality roles in her career. Writers, Producers and Directors need to realize that there is much more to Vaani than the memes that get made on her. Some people have criticized the love scenes for being too intense and the glamorous avatar of Vaani Kapoor in the film, which is plain stupid. There is a reason why there are such scenes in the film, you will understand when you get a grip of the subject matter of the film. Also, Vaani Kapoor looks extremely sexy in the film, you just can't take your eyes off her and I don't see how that is wrong. Vaani Kapoor is a gorgeous woman and there is nothing wrong in the way she has been presented in the film.
The screenplay of the film follows a very predictable route but entertains you throughout and gets you emotional towards the end. Unless you picked up the twist in the trailer itself, the reveal would definitely shock you, simply because something like this has never been done before in India. Kudos to the writers and director for picking up very unique subject for their film, and creating a very enjoyable film revolving around it. Of course the movie has some shortcomings, but the more important thing is the message that it carries, acceptance of each and every human being the way they are.
