Bad Newz movie review: Vicky Kaushal is the only saving grace of this bizarre & predictable comedy-drama

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri, Ammy Virk, Neha Dhupia, Sheeba Chadha

Director: Anand Tiwari

In 2019, filmmaker Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions took us on a roller-coaster ride with Good Newwz featuring Akshay Kumar, Diljit Dosanjh, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kiara Advani. Now, the head honcho has joined hands with director Anand Tiwari for the spiritual sequel titled Bad Newz starring Vicky Kaushal, Ammy Virk and Triptii Dimri. While the songs and trailers of the film have impressed the audience, does it fulfil the expectations of the cinegoers? Let’s find out…

Set in Delhi, Saloni Bagga (Triptii Dimri) is a chef, who works in an international restaurant and dreams to achieve the Meraki (Oscars for Chefs). While her parents are behind her to get married, she is focused on her goal until she comes across charming and charismatic Akhil Chadda (Vicky Kaushal) and instantly falls for him. Sonali conveys to Akhil that her primary goal is to win Meraki and she doesn’t want to get into a relationship but he convinces her that he won’t be an obstacle and will support her dreams. After dating for some time they get married.

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During their honeymoon period, Akhil constantly gets calls from his mother (Sheeba Chadha), which irritates Sonali. Later, he reveals that he has nomophobia (fear of being without a mobile phone or internet access) and there is a past tragedy related to his family because of which he got this fear.

After their honeymoon, Saloni focuses on her work but Akhil time and again comes to her restaurant to celebrate small anniversaries and sometimes with friends and relatives, which makes her angry. After one incident related to this scenario, a major argument takes place between the duo and Sonali tells Akhil. Because of her rotten mood, she fails to impress the Meraki jury members only to get fired from the restaurant. With tremendous anger and sadness, she fights with Akhil and says that she wants a divorce. Annoyed Akhil accepts it and they get separated.

Saloni now comes to Mussoorie at Hotel Savoy, where she is appointed as head chef. She develops a sweet bond with the hotel owner Gurbir Pannu (Ammy Virk) and their friendship grows smoothly. After someday she sees on Instagram that Akhil has moved on and going out with girls. In anger, Sonali gets drunk and goes to Gurbir and asks if he likes her. He confesses that he has feelings for her and she takes him to the room and makes out with him.

Later, when Saloni enters her own room, she finds Akhil there who is waiting to surprise her with a cake to celebrate the anniversary. While she questions about him his pics and videos with other girls, Akhil says that he has realized that he is happy only with her and after that, they make out.

After some days, Saloni realizes that she is pregnant and is confused about who is the father of the baby inside her womb. She convinces Akhil and Gurbir to take a paternity test and it comes that Sonali has got rare phenomenon of heteropaternal superfecundation (in this reproduced process twin children are born with the same mother but different biological fathers), where one baby belongs to Akhil and another one to Gurbir. So, who will accept Sonali and her two children? Will Saloni go back to Akhil or marry Gurbir? Will she stay separately with her kids? Well, for that you need to watch Bad Newz.

Director Anand Tiwari , who previously directed projects like Maja Ma, Love Per Square Foot, Bandish Bandits and Bang Baaja Baarat, has chosen a unique subject for his big-screen directorial debut but unfortunately, the plot is marred by melodrama and disjointed screenplay. While some dialogues and situations tickle us silly, some missed the mark completely.

Talking about the performances, Vicky Kaushal steals the show as Akhil Chaddha. The way he portrayed this character it looked like a tailor-made role for him. Apart from amazing screen presence, the Punjabi munda shines in comic and emotional sequences. Ammy Virk and Triptii Dimri put their best foot forward in their respective characters. Sheeba Chadha and Neha Dhupia thus make a mark in their limited screentime.

On the whole, Bad Newz failed to emerge as a very good film but undoubtedly is a treat for Kaushal fans.

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)

Bad Newz is playing in cinemas