Doctor G movie review: This film evolves pleasantly
When you build a story about a lad from the town and you are dealing with a character who is a protagonist outside the Bollywood stereotype
Hyderabad: When you build a story about a lad from the town and you are dealing with a character who is a protagonist outside the Bollywood stereotype, the first search spot is Ayushmann Khurrana. Also seen from the other end of the telescope, the presence of Ayushmann is a signal that you have a film that is going to be different from the typical tested formulae of mainstream Mumbaiwood.
Anubhuti Kashyap thus travels on a road less travelled. Only the travel is at times cringy. What definitely works in favour of the film is the presence of actors who are so good that one is willing to overlook the platitudes smuggled in and you walk out of the theatre reasonably happy that you have not mucked up your cinematic hours. Even the short duration furthers the cause.
Given the central idea of a medical student wanting to do ortho but landing with gynecology one would expect a Ayushmann Khurrana starrer to deal with the challenge with sensitivity and with a degree of finesse. In contrast, the manner in which a medical student is bullied (ragging!!) by his lady colleagues is trite, nay, crass.
The entire pre-interval storytelling is cringed in imbecile college ragging, girl-boy soppy romance and you wonder why and what Ayushmann Khurrana is doing in the film. You suspect that his understanding of scripts has gone awry.
However, wait for the interval. This is where Anubhuti Kashyap takes a U turn. The film is no longer about the male embarrassment to be a gynecologist. It is also no longer about gender embarrassment and medical verticals. It enlarges into a larger story dealing with child abuse, medical termination of pregnancy, human relationships – some platonic, some truly dysfunctional and some relationships that defy definition and would be pigeons than pigeonholes.
To narrate where and how the story moves from the pre-interval narrative to the post-interval experience is to rob the viewer of the pleasant evolution of the film. Watch it to experience it.
The film, undoubtedly, belongs rightfully to the brilliance of Shafali Shah. After doing the bad doc seeped in a television serial Human, she does a U turn as a highly ethical middle-class genealogist. Fortunately, there is nothing done to build her character. She is a character in herself. She is also the lifeline of Doctor G. We often in cinema confuse roles with performances. Watch the movie to understand how a great actress can flesh brilliance into a near normal character. This is arguably one of the top-ranking performances of recent times.
Dramatic yet controlled, there is a certain purity to her immotive transformation of the character reminiscent of the likes of Meena Kumari and Nutan. Within the framework of commercial cinema, and unlike the unchallenged space of Shaban Azmi, Shefali’s understanding of the commercial contours makes Doctor G a very special experience for those who understand the importance of performance in cinema.
Rakul Preet Singh as Fatima, the friend of the protagonist Dr Uday Gupta (Ayushmann Khurrana) is extremely subdued and is perfect foil to Shafali. There is also Sheeba Chadda playing the single mother in yet another scene stealing performance.
Notwithstanding the poise of Rakul, the brilliance of Shafali and the compulsive viewing of Sheeba Chadda, there is that near awesome yet always human performance from Ayushmann Khurrana. Both as the town boy who is synthetic in his relationships and as the mature evolved professional, sees life and human emotions. He is yet again brilliant. Notwithstanding the first half of the film, which may tempt you to yawn, sit back to enjoy the later.
