Movie recommendation: Vicky Donor (Hindi)

Image source: wikipedia.org

Vicky Donor is a Hindi romantic-comedy directed by Shoojit Sircar and produced by John Abraham. Released in April 2012, the movie opened to universal critical acclaim and quickly went on to become a box office success. 

For my birthday, I just wanted to catch a movie (any movie really!) and this is what I settled on. I have to say, it added an unexpected burst of fun to my day.

***Plot***

Spoiler Alert!

Vicky Arora is a lower middle-class, young Punjabi youth living with his mother and grandmother in Delhi. He is unemployed, aimless and perpetually happy-go-lucky with most of his time spent shopping, playing cricket and hanging out with his friends. His irresponsibility drives his widowed mother, Dolly, to the brink. To make matters worse, he is spoilt rotten by his grandmother (fondly called Biji) who seems to be able to justify anything he does, much to the chagrin of his mother. The household runs on a meager income brought in by Dolly who runs a beauty parlor. 

One particular incident causes Vicky to meet Dr. Baldev Chaddha, an infertility specialist whose clinic is in dire straits due to the high failure rates of his cases. Dr. Chaddha is looking for the "perfect" sperm and he feels that Vicky would be the ideal candidate. After much convincing and cajoling, Vicky agrees. 

After that, it is no looking back for Vicky and Dr. Chaddha. The clinic begins to rake in the moolah as Vicky's samples turn into a boon for the countless couples seeking infertility treatment. Vicky receives generous remuneration as well as gifts in cash and kind from the grateful couples. Vicky keeps his "donor" identity a secret from his family and friends as he believes it is frowned upon. 

The first signs of a predicament arises when Vicky falls in love with the striking Bengali bank employee Ashima Roy. Before the relationship start getting serious, Aashima reveals to Vicky that she is a divorcee. Despite the baggage of her past, the duo get married. When Aashima finds out that she is unable to bear children of her own, Vicky's secret slowly begins to unfold leading to marital discord and tension within the family. 

How Vicky gets his life back on track forms the rest of the storyline.

My thoughts...

There are movies that come with huge expectations and end up sorely disappointing the audience and then there are movies that come from nowhere and go on to become tremendous successes. 

You may wonder what you can you expect from a move that is based on the unconventional subject of sperm donation and infertility. But what is refreshing about Vicky Donor is the way these subjects have been handled. Indian audiences are generally not used to in-your-face discussions of anything to do with procreation because the majority of Bollywood movies are run-on-the-mill love stories, trite comedies or stories with a hackneyed plot. Of course, over the years we have seen a marked change in the quality of Hindi cinema with more and more young and intelligent directors emerging but there is still a long way to go. There is a quirky and tasteful way to do humor (à la Rajkumar Hirani) and this is where this movie scores. Even with constant references to the so-called "taboo" topics, at no point in time does the viewer feel embarrassed or uncomfortable while watching the movie. 

There are certain scenes in the film that leave you in splits. A few notable highlights are - Biji sharing a glass of whiskey with her daughter-in-law, Vicky's first visit to the clinic to "submit" his sample, Biji receiving a new iPhone from Vicky and cheekily commenting that she wanted the 32GB and not 16 GB and the bickering surrounding the Punjabi-Bengali culture clash. The only complaints I have are that at times, the Punjabi dialogues seem a bit heavy-handed and the plot does derail a tad in the second half of the movie.

Ayushman Khurana as Vicky is a real find. He is charming and doesn't take himself too seriously. He has all the trappings of a good actor. The song "Paani da rang" has been composed and sung by him and it is an absolute gem (it has been playing over and over in my head since the day I first heard it). Yami Gautam as Aashima Roy has great screen presence and makes you sit up and take notice of her. The characters of the grandmother and Dolly are delightfully funny and the casting is just spot on. But the star of the show just has to be Annu Kapoor as Dr. Chaddha. Right from his accent to mannerisms to his endless obsession with sperm - he is simply hilarious! I wish he would do more such standout roles. 

Apart from the fantastic cast, the music blends seamlessly into the storyline, the cinematography is authentic and the dialogues are crisp, witty and brings in chuckles.

Vicky Donor proves that even a small budget movie with no star cast, no foreign locales and an unconventional plot, can strike gold if it is given the right kind of treatment. This is one surprise packet that no one saw coming. Vicky Donor is fresh, daringly different, light-hearted and a laugh riot but yet manages to bring to your attention an issue that is seldom talked about and if so, in hushed tones. This is progressive cinema without the preaching and moral policing (now isn't that a relief!).

For all the above reasons, Vicky Donor is my current movie recommendation. Watch it and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

My rating for this movie is

Cheers,

Megha