Govinda Naam Mera Movie Review: Able performances can’t save this mindless caper

If it isn’t already, there needs to be a screenwriting course focusing only on second halves. And, ofcourse, Bollywood screenwriters and filmmakers should be chained to the first bench and made to attend. Earlier it was Shashanka Gosh’s Freddy and now Shashank Khaitan’s Govinda Naam Mera, both films suffering from the curse of the second half. These films open up and place their pawns smartly, like in a game of chess, but as they inch towards the climax, it seems like they got fatigued, overturned the board and decided to play Ludo. Rolling the dice to determine the fate of their characters.

Starring: Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Kiara Advani

Streaming on: Disney+Hotstar

Govinda Naam Mera, led by Vicky Kaushal, tells the story of Govind A. Waghmare (as per his birth certificate) a wannabe choreographer. He is tired of dancing to his bossy wife Gauri’s(Bhumi Pednekar) tunes and would rather fantasise about his girlfriend Sukku (Kiara Advani) draped in a yellow sari, seducing and singing suggestive Bollywood classics. This is not a hide-your-infidelity comedy of the 90s and although they are not amiable, both spouse and side-squeeze know about each other. Govind A. still has a lot of other affairs to manage. A bungalow, which was given to his mother by his action-director father, is being claimed by his first wife and Govind A. 's step-brother. There’s an Instagram-addicted, cocaine-snorting brat who wants to make a music video, his local politician father reluctantly paying his bills, a cop who might literally bust Govind A's balls if he doesn’t repay him for a gun, a missing packet of drugs, an insurance agent Gauri is having an affair with, a nosy maid, a murder and a body disposal. All of this gift wrapped in senseless comedy and animated acting.

It’s not like one doesn’t enjoy mindless capers once in a while but Govinda Naam Mera starts testing your patience and insulting your intellect. It becomes more and more farcical with each minute and even though its runtime is just 2 hours 11 minutes, it feels bloated, unable to gather pace. The humour is sporadic and once you have giggled at a moment another one comes with an equal cringe and maintains the balance in the universe. The issue with Govinda Naam Mera is that it overloads itself with plot points. It tries to mimic the humour of a Biwi Number 1 and the smarts of a Drishyam but all it ends up with is something that might have been titled Pati, patni aur woah!

If not a great story, director Shashank Khaitan had stupendous performers at his disposal. Primarily, Vicky Kaushal. Nothing is better on screen than an actor enjoying himself and Vicky does it to the fullest. He overacts but is strangely adorable doing so. He is ebullient and so is Bhumi Pednekar but her character feels predictable. Kiara emotes her frustrations well in the second half but it feels like the plot’s ludicrousness weighs on her performance. The film, in the beginning, opens a lot of doors and then doesn’t know which one to enter and when to get out of one. It takes two to tango, a tight script and punching humour, sadly, Govinda Naam Mera has none.