<Review by: Anuvrat Bhansali>

Directed by Shoojit Sircar. Starring Ayushmann Khurana, Annu Kapoor, Yami Gautam.

Original and entertaining, Vicky Donor takes a taboo issue to the audience with a story that’s also emotional and not a bit sleazy.

It feels splendid to know that our films are waking up to topics that previously were not touched upon. In the Indian Film Industry it’s almost an assumption that a taboo topic when presented on 70mm has to be controversial but welcome to the fun side of taboo and please don’t mind a high dose of predictability.

Vicky Donor is the story of Vicky Arora (Ayushmann Khurana), a 25-year-old archetypal flamboyant Punjabi boy from Delhi.  He eats, drinks and is pampered by his family, so he doesn’t have a care in the world. Just as the reality of responsibilities hit Vicky, he meets an infertility specialist Dr Baldev Chaddha (Annu Kapoor) who figures that Vicky has a one in a million sperm type. After many rounds of being shy, doubtful and restless, Vicky agrees to donate his sperm for some pocket money and save Dr Chaddha’s out-of-business fertility clinic. The pocket money starts flowing and Vicky becomes the neighbour’s envy and owner’s pride. He meets Ashima Bannerjee (Yami Gautam), a divorcee Bengali girl and gets married to her. But his life of bliss comes to a halt when Vicky realises that his wife can never conceive and his professional identity is now public. Dr Chaddha then takes it on himself to help Vicky get his life back on track. With a slightly laggard second half, Vicky Donor is largely a great watch. It takes no Scorsese to predict the story’s biggest shock point: that a sperm donor’s wife can’t conceive.

The biggest applause in the movie goes to the casting director for choosing Annu Kapoor to play Dr Chaddha and picking such a fabulous supporting cast. Once you have seen the movie you can’t imagine such a wholesome performance from anybody but Annu Kapoor. His explanation of sperm and the reproduction process is an unbeatable act. Ayushmann Khurana isn’t really brilliant but being a Punjabi boy himself, he has done a decent job. If you have heard and love the ‘Pani Da Rang’ track, know that it’s been sung, co-composed and co-written by Ayushmann. The next Farhan Akhtar, it seems! Yami Gautam isn’t extraordinary but she is graceful, never over-the-top and gratifying in the role. You can only be in awe of Vicky and Ashima’s families. They are mind blowing.

The movie is taken a notch up with its dialogue and the screenplay. The depiction of Punjabi flamboyance will have you in splits! Characters, situations and locations have some earnestly fine detailing with a musical score that melts right into the movie. Shoojit Sircar gets it right at almost all places. And kudos to actor John Abraham who has produced this film.

Vicky Donor is a mass movie because it isn’t expounding the science or societal need for sperm donation but rather living it with witty strokes.