Movie Review: Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, taking on social issues.

Movie Review: Toilet – Ek Prem Katha
Rating: 3/5
Director: Shree Narayan Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Divyendu Sharma, Anupam Kher, Rakesh Sharma, Sudhir Pandey

The name of the film says it all, “Toilet – Ek Prem Katha”. It’s a love story binded with a subject of tackling defecation in open. It’s an intriguing subject and can be explored in many ways. This is a story about Keshav (Akshay Kumar), a 12th fail 36-year-old bachelor who’s forcefully trapped with the traditional rituals applied by his father. His father, Pandit Ji (Sudhir Pandey) is someone who’ll u-turn his bike rather than going through the road crossed by a cat. On the other hand, there’s quirky, full of life, carrying I-don’t-give-a-shit about world attitude Jaya (Bhumi Pednekar). Science has already proven, opposite attracts and these two poles-apart personalities get one.  Follow Spotlife Asia for the latest Entertainment and Lifestyle news.

Director Shree Narayan Singh has made sure to infuse some fun moments in between to not stare the attention away from the audience. The second half is full of high emotional drama moments which tend to slow down the pace at places. A good movie should have a good intermission point and this has a very good one. Songs in the film seem to be forcefully injected in the screenplay. If the songs would’ve been good this wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but they are pretty average.

Akshay Kumar as Keshav is as honest as one can get. He has lived the role and is a perfect choice to send out this message. He makes you laugh, leaves your eyes moist and even provokes the emotions in you with his super-energetic opposition. His accent for a man living in Uttar Pradesh is perfect.

Bhumi Pednekar is the biggest revelation of the film. She as Jaya is the face of every girl who has ever faced this issue. She just makes you fall for her charm. It’s hard to master a de-glam role and she has nailed it. Her dialogue delivery, expressions are at the top of the game. 

Divyendu Sharma is a surprise package of the film. His chemistry with Akshay Kumar is the base of fun in the film. Anupam Kher makes his presence felt as Bhumi Pednekar’s grandfather who loves to watch Sunny Leone’s movies. Sudhir Pandey as Akshay Kumar’s father will annoy you and that’s where he scores well.

The movie is full of happy-realisation moments and dialogues like “Zyada pada likhai fail kar deti hai.” When you decide to display an issue which many are unaware about you need something to attract them, a love story in the film is one of those reasons. The first half of the film is full of some hilarious moments and second half depends majorly on drama. One issue I had with the script is it takes a lot of time to build and when it’s finally at the peak, things get done very quickly.

The movie follows the path of multiple composers and this is where it fails. Music by Vickey Prasad, Manas-Shikhar and Sachet-Parampara is the weakest link of the film. Background score by Surender Sodhi is good at times but meh at others.  Screenplay looks very repetitive, thanks to some good moments which hide this flaw. Editing of the film too is not at par and it easily could’ve been a few minutes shorter. Some scenes just don’t make sense and do nothing but drag the plot.

This is an honest attempt to tackle something that exists but not many are aware of it. This film will make you laugh, feel and most importantly think. Watch this for Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar’s true-to-the-soul performances.