An evaluation of the Ayushmann Khurrana and Rakul Preet flick Doctor G, which is only moderately entertaining.
Review on the film “Doctor G” starring Ayushmann Khurrana: in its effort to establish its feminist bona fides, the picture neglects the old adage “show, don’t tell,” and thus fails to develop into the entertaining spectacle it could have been.
Scripted by Shubhra Gupta
1:09 pm, October 14, 2022
Doctor-g review
Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakul Preet Singh, and Shefali Shah are the film’s three main leads.
Bollywood is currently undergoing a major Bhopal moment. Once again, it serves as the setting for a film that is so preoccupied with establishing its feminist credentials that it neglects the age-old maxim that less is more. And that’s the main thing that keeps Dr. G from being the absolute masterpiece it could have been.
Even though Dr. Uday Gupta (Ayushmann Khurrana) wants urgently to focus on orthopaedics, he ends up working in the gynaecology department at the local government medical college. And that is where his real education begins: in learning to ‘listen’ to women and abandon the’male’ touch he has always relied on. All of the plot and the characters work to show the hero maturing from a brazen youth into a thoughtful adult. His ex-girlfriend makes a brief appearance to dump him and then vanishes forever. As the only highly reluctant guy in the class, he benefits from the ribbing of his new peers, who include the bubbly Fatima Siddiqui (Rakul Preet Singh) and a group of other confident women. With this in mind, his superior (Shefali Shah) constantly lectures him. His best friend, who goes shirtless for most of the film, manages to hang around long enough to help him develop a sense of self-awareness. His mother (Sheeba Chaddha) tries to strike off on her own but is lectured by everyone around her.
Is there anything else you need to know before going to see Doctor G starring Ayushmann Khurrana? The film has only earned Rs 50 lakh in advance ticketsales.
Sure, it’s true that all those things apply to Anubhuti Kashyap‘s (Anurag’s sister) first feature film, a comedy about a group of people who act in very vaginal-vestigial ways. Everything in the film is centred on the male protagonist, who is initially an ignorant jerk but whose mission it is to free himself from the biases he has harboured his entire life. And Kashyap proves he can make a world that feels real. The conditions that were designed to help Uday grow into Dr. G, a man who is at ease in the predominantly feminine environments of maternity and labour units, become routine after a while. It seems to have died down by the time Dr. G. realises his true yin-yang potential, which is great because I’m not sure how classy it is to make a “stree-rog vibhaag” the butt of a running joke. The second half makes a sudden shift in tone, focusing on the difficulties associated with a teen pregnancy, as if it were included to emphasise how far our protagonist has come.
Khurrana is also reverting to his earlier role as the befuddled but good-natured Indian male who respectfully and sensitively learns to deal with the odorous flow of bodily fluids and reproductive systems. He justifiably receives praise for his work as Dr. Uday Gupta. Shah’s portrayal of the senior doctor who points and scolds feels all too familiar. Some of Chaddha’s scenes are quite touching, but I wish she would have a break from playing the silent parent in Bollywood movies about teenage boys coming of age. These two ladies have earned some extra attention. Rakul Preet Singh avoids making a potentially cliche part into one she makes the most of with her carefree attitude. They have also mastered the art of using a stethoscope as if it were an extension of their own body.
Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakul Preet Singh, Shefali Shah, Sheeba Chaddha, and Indraneil Sengupta are all featured in the upcoming film Doctor G.
Filmmaker Anubhuti Kashyap (Dr. G)
Two and a half stars for the film Doctor G.