Sukhee movie review: Shilpa Shetty is spirited in a now repetitive template of women empowerment

Cast: Shilpa Shetty, Amit Sadh, Kusha Kapila, Pavleen Gujral, Dilnaz Irani Director: Sonal Joshi Language: Hindi ‘How many films can we make on women empowerment?,’ asks one character in the new film in cinemas this week called Sukhee. He adds, “All are the same,” and director Sonal Joshi’s film that stars Shilpa Shetty, Kusha Kapila, and Amit Sadh, comes dangerously close to proving his otherwise chauvinistic statement true. It’s a film about exhaustion and the sameness of the protagonist’s life. She’s named Sukhee, is anything but. Jokes on her name arrive with predictability. Just like in Gauri Shinde’s _English Vinglish_ , where Sridevi was nearly denied to have a life of her own and only serve to her family, Shilpa Shetty does almost the same here. The nuances in the performances and writing aren’t the ideal ways, the jarring background score establishes these people as Punjabis. There’s a reunion happening in New Delhi, class of 1997 to be precise. Sukhee, both the film and the character, are curious, and also somewhere excited. This is the opportunity for both to unravel their spirited side and bid adieu to boredom and repetition. The film is directed by Sonal Joshi, who has been an assistant director on two of Imtiaz Ali’s films- _Jab Harry Met Sejal_ and _Tamasha_ , so a tinge of rediscovery is inevitable. Just like Ved from Tamasha, who found his voice in the lusciousness of Corsica, Sukhee does the same amid the bursting and busy streets and milieu of New Delhi. And yes, she and her girl gang unleash a sea of abuses in a scene only to give a nod to feistiness, and as stated above, women empowerment. Shilpa Shetty ’s earnestness is overshadowed by the writing’s pretentiousness. There are only glimpses of some endearing moments that bring a genuine sense of warmth., but Sukhee is too much in a hurry to put its message across. The man who was complaining about the sameness in films on women empowerment wasn’t entirely wrong, even though he would’ve been canceled on social media by now. Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars) Sukhee is now running in cinemas