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Film Review: Vicky Donor

Cast: Ayushman Khurrana, Yami Gautam, Annu Kapoor

Produced By: John Abraham and others

Directed By: Shoojit Sircar

Music: Abhishek-Akshay

My Rating : 4.5/5

Ayushman Khurrana has 'come' of age (No pun intended). If you are a cricket fan, you may remember this excessively handsome, intelligent, and witty young man from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010. He hosted several matches and became very popular in that season. I was quite disappointed not to find him in the following years of IPL and wondered where this ‘dude’ disappeared! Not for long. The fellow did his homework right and got himself this unconventional launch as the protagonist in ‘Vicky Donor’.

How many debutants would dare to get introduced in a movie like this I wonder!! Most would prefer to get safely unveiled under a Yash Raj banner or a predictable yawn-worthy mushy drama or some multi-starrer where the Khans, Kapoors or Kumars play the lion’s share of the meaty role! That’s where Ayushman scores with a big thumbs up- for daring to debut in Vicky Donor. The debutant heroine Yami Gautam is impressive too and the two share a lively onscreen chemistry. As Ashima Roy, her acting skills are notable and some of my male friends already find Yami ‘yummy’! The lady reminds me of ‘Gayatri’—the beautiful female lead in 'Swades' who packed off from Bollywood as soon as she arrived even after a dream launch! Hopefully we will see more of the graceful Yami in Bollywood in the years to come.

The characterization in the movie is commendable. The roles are sketched to play meaningful characters and yet the treatment is light. When they gel in the story, we create a hilarious impact and yet convey a positive social message to the audience. John Abraham has surely chosen the right first film to produce! The script is novel and the approach is fresh, funny, and thought-provoking. Kudos to the director for portraying a taboo topic like ‘sperm donation’ with such élan and confidence!

Annu Kapoor is a doctor who runs a ‘fertility’ clinic where he helps childless couples conceive. In other words, he finds them a ‘sperm donor’. At the start of the movie, we see Dr. Chaddha (Kapoor) tensed as most of his clients complain about no pregnancy even after coming to his clinic. Some even threaten him with dire consequences. Annu tried his best to explain to the clients that even after sperm donation, 100% fertility cannot be assured. Simultaneously, he starts searching for a ‘productive’ sperm donor and chances upon Ayushman who looks to him as the perfect ‘procreation’ machine. The movie progresses with Chaddha trying to convince Vicky (Ayushman) to donate and how Vicky keeps dodging the doctor till he finally agrees to give it a shot. The scenes are knit together with great deft; and humor sprinkled here and there make the audience break into splits of laughter.

Ayushman and Yami stand out with their acting skills. Annu Kapoor is commendable. Also special mention for the ladies who play Vicky’s mother and grandmother. The scene where the two Punjabi women share a drink in the evening behaving like perfect ‘bewras’ is wonderful! The modern tech-savvy grandmom who dreams of a 42 inch flat TV and a Ritu Kumar dress is a darling. It is great to see elderly women being portrayed like ‘normal women’ with an inclination for alcohol and not getting bullied by the typical 'emotional baggage' that most Hindi movies depict all the time.

Also a special mention for the gentleman who play’s Yami’s father and the lady who plays her aunt. The Bengali duo have acted splendidly. The show-down shown between North Indians and East Indians (read Punju Vs Bong) is hilarious, healthy and in good taste. The movie takes a light-hearted dig at the ‘cons’ of each culture and glorifies the beauty of both. So on the one hand, we have the show-off Punjabis accepting a divorcee Bengali girl as their daughter-in-law. On the other hand, there is the conservative Bengali dad who encourages his daughter to accept Vicky as her husband, regardless of his ‘sperm-donor’ status. Love wins over all and cultural barriers are meaningless there—that’s what Vicky’s mom and Ashima’s father bring to the fore. The stereotyped rhetorics are absent and this tussle between the cultures is great fun! Probably that's the real USP of the movie :).

Of course the movie also has its flaws and tends to get too filmy at times. But if you overlook those, you have a racy script, a fresh concept, brilliant acting, full-on humor and total entertainment for 2 hours—that sums up Vicky Donor.

Ayushman Khurrana certainly has a very bright future ahead. He has lent his voice to one of the songs and done the lyrics for it too. Good luck to this talented new kid on the block!

The movie is highly recommended.