'Bad Newz': Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk trio suffer at the hands poor screenplay - IANS Rating: **

Arnab Banerjee

Mumbai, July 19 (IANS) The good news is that Hindi cinema is now open to experimenting with newer themes, moving away from the tried and true formulas that ruled for decades. The bad news -- incidentally, that’s the title of this week’s release -- is that despite filmmakers testing innovative ideas, there's still a lack of truly standout, out-of-the-box treatments of subjects.

Take ‘Bad Newz’, for instance.

Produced by Amazon Prime, Dharma Productions, and Leo Media Collective, ‘Bad Newz’ is inspired by true events and features Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri, and Ammy Virk.

The film introduces the term "heteropaternal superfecundation," which describes the rare occurrence of a woman bearing twins with different fathers.

The storyline is not too complicated, though. A qualified chef, Saloni Bagga (Triptii Dimri), is so career-oriented that she can put aside every bit of her life to earn the Meraki certificate for herself.

Now, where have you seen a Hindi film actress get so hyper about her profession?

Till very recently, let alone female characters, but even the male protagonists, on whom the entire film rests and continues to rely, did not have a defined occupation. Therefore, for the female lead to be so obsessed with her job in a 142- minute narrative comes a surprise, albeit a pleasant one.

Saloni is adventurous (again, a rare Hindi film breed since it means she is open to having a physical relationship too !) and loves partying, while her mother is preoccupied with finding her a suitable husband. At a party, she meets Karol Bagh boy Akhil Bagga (Vicky Kaushal), and they quickly fall for each other. Despite Akhil's disapproval of girls with tattoos, he is eager for fun.

And before they could say Jack Robinson, she too began to lose self-control. And before we know it, Akhil’s doting parents and grandmother are negotiating for a dhoom dhaam ki shadi. Things look fine until Mama’s boy Akhil and his pampered upbringing make life miserable for her. Saloni’s full-time career is periodically interrupted by Akhil and his juvenile antics as he walks into her workplace unannounced almost every day as she loses her dream of Meraki certification and gets fired from her job. Enough is enough, Saloni says, and she decides to call it quits and focus on her career. The news of their breakup is devastating for the two families. But a distraught Vicky decides to get their divorce papers processed. Saloni finds herself troubled but takes up a new job at The Savoy in Mussoorie as the head chef. Life has its unusual ways of turning things in her favour as cupid strikes for her yet again and she gets attracted to the owner of the hotel, Gurbir Pannu (Ammy Virk).

And guess what? They have a one-night stand.

Soon, all hell breaks loose when Saloni gets to know from her doctor that she is pregnant with twins and that hers is a rare case of heteropaternal superfecundation, in which two different eggs are fertilised in the ovary of a woman with sperm from two different men.

A comic one-upmanship between Akhil Chadha and Gurbir Pannu ensues as the two men try to woo her in their own ways.

What could have been a crazy laugh riot with two sophisticated Punjabi men and a Christian-Hindu girl falls flat in many places because of poor writing. Talented writers Ishita Moitra and Tarun Dudeja have given some of the funniest lines to Vicky, and what a performer he is! Hogging every frame, he is present in and owning his character with panache and buffoonery, he walks away with all the credit for lifting the film. Ammy is good too, and it makes you feel for his helplessness. Pencil thin Triptii, as Saloni, looks ravishing and looks more like a model than a qualified chef. Not that a chef cannot be good-looking, but it’s Saloni’s styling and looks that attract your notice more than her role. In a few scenes, though, she does prove her acting skills adequately.

It's the melodrama that mars an otherwise entertaining, slightly adult rom-com.

Cinematography by Debojeet Ray is fine, but special mention must be made of editor Shan Mohammed, whose cuts at the right places make the viewing pleasurable, with dull moments, if any, quickly moving on to other scenes.

Dharma has used many of its old songs in the background, and Mere Mehbob Mere Sanam keeps appearing from time to time.

Peppy and foot tapping music by Rochak Kohli, Vishal Mishra, DJ Chetas-Lijo George, Prem-Hardeep, Karan Aujla, and Abhijeet Srivastava will appeal to the teenyboppers, though they can recall which of the many songs has a long-lasting charm.

We have come a long way from the 60s to the 90s, from the hapless heroine projecting a Sati Savitri image of our female leads lamenting, “Main tumahare bacche ki maa banne wali hoon.” to two-timing confident “couldn’t care a damn” girlfriends, and that sure is a sign for Alpha and Generation Z, to find our scripts more relatable. She is a sexually active young girl who lives life on her terms, and what’s more, is not guilt-ridden, but rather unapologetically flaunts it too!

Director: Anand Tiwary

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Triptii Dimri, and Ammy Virk

Cinematography: Debojeet Ray

Music: Rochak Kohli, Vishal Mishra, DJ Chetas-Lijo George, Prem-Hardeep, Karan Aujla, and Abhijeet Srivastava

Duration: 142 minutes

IANS Rating: **

--IANS