Kajal and Vishal Jethwa’s Salaam Venky is a film that celebrates life and embraces passion. It talks about the sensitive topic of euthanasia and organ donation. Read our review.

In Short

Salaam Venky releases on December 9.
The film stars Kajol and Vishal Jethwa in lead roles.
It is directed by Revathy.

You may feel overwhelmed seeing the number of heartfelt emotional dramas at the moment, and we totally understand! But Kajol and Vishal Jethwa-starrer stands apart from the rest. Directed by Revathy, Salaam Venky is a wonderfully made dark movie despite not hitting the right notes on all fronts. Based on the novel The Last Hurrah by Shrikant Murthy, the film touches upon a grave subject of euthanasia, which in simple terms, means the act of deliberately ending a person’s life to end their suffering.

When Kajol’s character Sujata finds out that her son Venky, played by Vishal Jethwa, has a rare health condition, she is heartbroken. Based on a true story, the film is about Venky suffering from a terminally serious problem called Duchenne muscular dystrophy which makes him bedridden. His mother battles the challenges thrown at her with a brave face. Sujata has always granted her son’s wishes, but a mother can’t grant her child’s request to die now, can she? This is where the story starts. Venky wants to donate his organs by opting for euthanasia, but it’s illegal in India (FYI, passive euthanasia has been legal in India since 2018.)

In the first half of the film, we see Venky being rushed to the hospital where he is hooked to machines. The boy remains positive throughout and even calls it ‘decorations’ on him. Kajol says that he’s back to the hospital in just a week, indicating that Venky’s death is near. Several flashbacks are thrown in where we get a glimpse of Venky’s childhood, his troubled relationship with estranged father, his list of wishes, and his bond with her peers. Though the film moves at a slow pace, it is worth the time.

The second half focusses on Kajol’s Sujata finally accepting her son’s will to die. She runs pillar-to-post to allow her son to get euthanised so that he could donate his organs. Rahul Bose and Priyamani play opposing lawyers while Aahana Kumra impresses as the television reporter who is giving the mother-son duo some positive media coverage.

Venky is filmy guy who loves Bollywood. He swears by Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand’s line, “Babumoshai, Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin!” And when his love interest is leaving the hospital room, Venky whispers Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘palat, palat, palat’ with his earnest eyes. For a boy who knows he’s going to die, Venky teaches you to make the most of life.

Vishal Jethwa has given an incredible performance in Salaam Venky, probably one of his best. He brings in multi-layered emotions and wit with so much life. This is ironical for a person who so desperately wishes to end it. Vishal should be given a standing ovation for making everyone cry and smile at the same time, and he barely had to lift a finger to do it. While lying on the hospital bed, he won our hearts with his raw emotions. Watch out for the scene where he is crying out for his mom helplessly because she won’t speak to him.

Kajol has once again proved that it is her world when it comes to movies, and we are just living in it! For a mother who knows her child is going to die, she has the toughest job. Her expressions will leave you in tears. Her banters with her dying son is immensely cute.

Revathy’s affection for her film’s characters is evident, and balanced equally by her respect for them and her filmmaking process. Three cheers for the screenplay though. From the four corners of the hospital room to the beach shots, Salaam Venky’s scenes are visually hypnotic and will keep you hooked.

However, the film isn’t one without faults. The first half of the film could have been written tighter. It drags on that you momentarily lose interest. Aamir Khan’s cameo looks forced because the makers wanted another star appearance. Another thing where the makers went wrong were the songs. Salaam Venky almost looked liked a musical. In one of the scenes, Venky’s team decides to make a video montage of him to show the court that he is mentally stable to express his wish to die. The film failed to overlook that the judge might see it as a sign that Venky is not in pain. The tragedy in this film is that it is based on a true story, so it didn’t really need all this ‘masala mirchi’. The intention might have been right, but it failed evoke positive emotions in some parts.

One side character which was beautifully written was of Aneet Padda’s Nandini, who is Venky’s love interest. She is visually impaired, and she sees the world through Venky’s eyes, whereas she is his legs. When Venky is on the verge of dying, and he can’t speak, he communicates with Nandini by writing on her hand. It’s so beautiful how even the most strained of love stories can be revitalised by a human touch. Prakash Raj, Kamal Sadanah, Anant Mahadevan and Parvathi T’s also give commendable performances.

Salaam Venky is a film that celebrates life and embraces passion. It fully encapsulates human spirit and in an unique way, shows how it’s the birthright of everyone to choose their own journey in life. It stands out with its beauty, intellect and spirit. The film will teach you that life is short, so if you are upset, sad or feeling dejected, get up, rise and shine! Let’s see that smile on your face like Venky.

Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakul Preet Singh, Shefali Shah, Sheeba Chadha, Indraneil Sengupta

What’s the recipe for a new-age everyman film?

Take a mould and add in not-so-gourmet ingredients, ranging from small towns and funny best friends to nagging mothers and interfering uncles and aunts, in generous quantities and sauté them. Pepper the mix with social commentaries, romance, humour and a language, which is a cultural reflection of its backdrop. Finally, garnish it with dollops of rib-tickling one-liners and good-old nostalgia that takes you back to your summer breaks when you lived in your home-town before you shifted to a metropolis to chase your dreams.

Also read: Doctor G Box Office: Ayushmann Khurrana Film Witnesses Growth on Day 2, Earns Rs 5.22 Cr

In 2012, actor Ayushmann Khurrana kick-started his acting career with filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor. The film, set in Lajpat Nagar, a cosy nook in the Capital that still reeks of puraani Dilli, intended to normalise sperm donation and bust the stigma surrounding it. Thus began the rise of a new genre in Bollywood known as the Ayushmann Khurrana genre, which is often compared to late filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s cinema. He followed it up with Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (both 2017), Dream Girl (2019) and Gulabo Sitabo (2020). These films went on to perform well and earned critical acclaim.

But for how long can you keep tweaking with the formula? The debacle began with Bala (2019). And then happened Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020). One can call these films old wine in a new bottle or more contextually speaking – it’s a classic case of vegetable biriyani, pulao and tehri.

Ayushmann’s latest outing is Doctor G, a film that addresses gender stereotypes in a female-dominated space. Sounds familiar? Hold on! This is a film which talks about a male doctor trying to come to terms with his role as a gynaecologist and doing his best to let go of his ‘male touch’ so as to make his female patients feel at ease around him. Here, the mother (played brilliantly by actor Sheeba Chadha) isn’t obsessed with getting her son married and is remotely removed from being a nagger. A single mother, she is cool, enterprising, progressive, doesn’t cower at the thought of her Hindu son’s potential girlfriend being a Muslim and perms her hair to up her Tinder and selfie games. What’s also refreshing is the romantic angle (rather the lack of it) between the film’s protagonists – Uday (played by Ayushmann) and Fatima (essayed by Rakul Preet Singh).

Set in Bhopal, Doctor G opens with a conversation between Uday and his best friend, Chaddi, an IAS aspirant, who also lives with him and his mother as a paying guest. It sees Uday, fondly referred to as Guddu, moaning about wanting to get a seat at the orthopaedic department of a medical college. However, he ends up at a gynaecology class and that’s where all the trouble begins.

Without meandering and beating around the bush, the makers straightaway dive into the subject of the narrative right since the first sequence and successfully make the audience a part of Doctor G’s world. While there’s nothing that’s not out-of-the-box in terms of its treatment and template in the first half, what keeps us engrossed is the fast-paced unravelling of simplistic events. And before you know, it’s already time for the interval. The second half incorporates a new storyline, which might seem abrupt on the surface but with time, seamlessly becomes one with the crux of the plot.

The weakest link, however, in the film is the portion that encapsulates the evolution in the dynamic shared by Uday and Fatima. The track adds no value and substance to the narrative and the complete lack of it wouldn’t have affected the flow of the film in any way. To some, it might even appear to be a purposeless hodgepodge and the biggest hiccup in Doctor G.

But Ayushmann shoulders the film like a true-blue seasoned actor. He’s clearly in his comfort zone here and slips under the skin of his character with a rare finesse. The only complaint is the inconsistency while he speaks English. While in some scenes, his English is fluent, in others, the Bhopal boy in him struggles to word his feelings.

Sheeba, who has proved his mettle with Badhaai Ho, Taj Mahal 1989 (2020), Pagglait (2021) and Badhaai Do, among many other projects, is stupendous in Doctor G. She’s one of the biggest highlights of the film. She steals the show with a top-notch comic timing and the way she brings her vulnerability to the fore in a confrontation scene with Ayushmann’s Uday in the second half is stunning.

Shefali Shah, who plays Dr Nandini, the head of the gynaecology department in the medical campus and Uday’s mentor, plays her part to a T. The dearth of nuances, however, in her character stops her from blossoming with her signature glory. Once again, she plays a part that’s stern, restraint and resolute. A surprise revelation is Abhay Mishra, who plays Chaddi. His one-liners and straight-faced humour will crack you up every now and then. His scenes with Ayushmann are thoroughly entertaining. Rakul doesn’t bring much to the table solely because she has no meat to chew. Indraneil Sengupta and Ayesha Kaduskar are decent.

Director Anubhuti Kashyap delivers an impressive act with her debut project. It is said that when stories are told and helmed by women, there’s a certain tenderness attached to their approach and treatment. Needless to say, Doctor G is told from a female gaze. Here, the women might not be man-haters but they surely are portrayed from the lens of a feminist, which is also reflected in the way their disposition and demeanour towards Uday – the only boy in the gynaecology class – transitions. Without any kind of gender role reversal happening, they are made to operate and maneuver in a world that belongs to them.

Watch this film if you want to take a break from the actioners and mystery-thrillers that are gracing the big screen every other Friday of late. Despite its run-of-the-mill template, Doctor G manages to offer a kind of novelty and brings us back the Ayushmann Khurrana we have been yearning for.