At first glance “Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan” may look like a movie with the sole purpose of introducing homosexuality to the Indian/Bollywood audience, but it turns out to be so much more than that. With a meticulously chosen starcast, the film breaks multiple barriers at once.
“Zyada savdhan” carefully escapes the urge to establish homosexuality as something that originates from somewhere. Instead it just places the gay couple (played by Ayushman Khurana & Jeetendra Kumar) in front of you and quickly gets to the point.
Even with the quirkiness of the characters combined with the abundance of silly but fun jokes, the characters, their fight, their troubles seem very real and tethered to real world. Within the sillines this film keeps hold of its underlying goal of breaking the prison of mentality and trying to understand an idea that is considered a taboo by the society.
This is done masterfully by the use of metaphors like ‘Kali Gobhi’. At the start of the film, Kali Gobhi is considered by Shankar Tripathi (played by Gajendra Rao) as something that can’t be infested while a protest was happening in front of his door, signifying society’s ignorance for what they don’t want to accept. Later in a sequence, Kartik reveals the true nature of this denial as worms in Kali Gobhi.
The best part of the film is that Aman’s parents do not simply accept Aman & Kartik’s relationship influenced by a cliché monologue. Instead the acceptance comes from looking back at their own personal troubles and finding the similarity that Aman & Kartik are fighting for the same freedom and understanding as they do. Finally, Shankar Tripathi burns all Kali Gobhis as his misconception disappears.
Film captures the essence of a middle class family, their struggle and worries and addresses that communication is the key and if we start a conversation about everything that makes us uncomfortable, it will help us form a better understanding about it. And when we understand “Love is Love” we all will burn the “Kali Gobhi”.
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