Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Shefali Shah, Rakul Preet Singh, Sheeba Chaddha and Abhinay Raj Singh
Director: Anubhuti Kashyap
Rating: Three and a half stars (out of 5)
If not overflowing with everything that the doctor ordered, Doctor G, directed and co-written by debutante Anubhuti Kashyap, is a cinematic pill that does its job to great effect for the most part. Playful and provocative without being facetious, the lively and punchy dramedy deals with questions about gender roles and expectations with a calibrated mix of candour and humour
While Doctor G is another addition to Ayushmann Khurrana's carefully cultivated list of films that deal with prickly social themes, it is infinitely more than just a star vehicle. It not only touches upon issues that are rarely broached in Hindi cinema, let alone adumbrated at length, it also thrives on other significant departures from norm.
Dr Uday Gupta (Khurrana) wants a career in orthopaedics but given the low rank that he secures in the entrance examination he lands a seat in the gynaecology department of a Bhopal medical college and hospital. He grudgingly accepts the slot hoping to use the placement as a stopgap arrangement while he prepares for another calculated go at what he really wants.
As the solitary male in an all-woman section, Uday is up against not only a bunch of girls who are no mood to roll out the red carpet but also his own biases and misgivings. Doctor G isn't a standard feminist film focussed on the empowerment of women. It is a man here who needs to lunge at all the support he can garner in order to find his way around in a setting in which he is at the receiving end.
The film starts off with a female character (seen only once) - Uday's disenchanted girlfriend - who needs no prodding or help to speak her mind or take a stand. She breaks up with him because of fundamental temperamental differences between the two. She decides to go her own way - no qualms, no apologies.
Surrounded by strong women who know what they want, Uday, despite the initial hiccups, begins to see value in 'empowering' himself with the right notions about masculinity and ambition. It is the women who evebtually help him disavow himself of obsolete ideas about what a man can do and cannot do.
To begin with, the head of the gynaecology department of the Bhopal Institute of Medical Sciences, Nandini Shrivastava (Shefali Shah), grants him no quarters. Neither obviously do the other women in the department. But as the male gynaecologist begins to settle in amid the chaos and confusion that swirls around him, he develops a romantic bond with Dr. Fatima Siddiqui (Rakul Preet Singh), whose engagement is round the corner.
Doctor G isn't only about the tutoring of a man who is repeatedly accused of not being clued in to what women want but also about the tough and independent women around him who give him much to mull over as he struggles to rid himself of his ingrained reservations.
Dr Uday Gupta is told to appreciate the distinction between the 'male touch' and a doctor's touch. That is easier said than done for a man who has never felt the need to challenge the status quo. He is conditioned to believe that only a woman can be a gynaecologist.
Doctor G is a fun film that addresses issues that matter with all the seriousness that they deserve. The blend of humour and socially-inflected drama has an easy flow to it thanks principally to the quality of the writing and the performances by a cast clued in fully to the unusual tonalities of the film.
The Uday and Fatima affair, for one, does not play out along expected lines. Not cast in the mould of the usual Hindi movie romance, it wends its way through a momentary (and one-off) high followed by complexities that push the relationship in a surprising direction.
Uday's mother (Sheeba Chaddha), who lost her husband when she was pregnant, triggers another set of situations that force the man to make the effort to better understand and process his priorities and prejudices.
A single woman who makes no bones about her desires, Uday's mom isn't willing to let opportunities slip through her fingers simply because she is expected to lead a staid, uneventful life and take care of the needs of her only son.
In the course of an altercation with her, Uday reminds her of the sacrifice that he has made to stay with her. He could have gone away to Mandsaur, where a seat in the orthopaedics department was available. But when the mother enumerates the things that she has given up in life to raise him single-handedly, Uday is left speechless.
He learns one lesson or another from his encounters with women. But his relationship with the one man who he looks up to - his cousin and noted orthopaedic surgeon Ashok (Indraneil Sengupta), sets him on a course that ends with him unlearning a great deal and evolving into a more rounded individual than what he has ever been.
The strength of Doctor G springs from the breezy nature of its storytelling, which brims over with moments that alternate between the hilarious and the sensitive. It takes a serious turn in the run-up to the climax and its intensity rises appreciably but the film makes it a point to eschew shrillness and overt solemnity.
Ayushmann Khurrana delivers a sparkling performance that is marked by restraint but he never lets the spotlight drift away from him. Not an easy feat that given the fact that the cast includes Shefali Shah and Sheeba Chaddha, both of whom are consummately pitch perfect. Rakul Preet Singh, playing a woman who is more than just the hero's love interest, is no less convincing.
Doctor G is an entertaining comedy that handles the serious business of getting a clutch of important points across without losing its balance. Portions that possess depth and veracity propel the film forward. Ones that don't do not do any permanent damage. Together, they add up to a film of infectious vivacity that also has provide food for thought.
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Ayushmann Khurrana, Shefali Shah, Rakul Preet Singh, Sheeba Chaddha and Abhinay Raj Singh
