Mr Pregnant Movie Review: A silly presentation of a shocking concept 

When Ayushmann Khurana made films on one taboo topic after another through the 2010s, be it with a Vicky Donor, a Badhaai Ho or a Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, it was not only interesting but also novel to watch mid-budget films make entertaining, mainstream films in that space. 

Cast - Syed Sohel Ryan, Roopa Koduvayur, Suhasini Maniratnam, Harsha Chemudu 
Director - Srinivas Vinjanampati 

Ayushmann himself, transitioning from a television career, found himself on a somewhat unprecedented trajectory. The Hindi film industry on the other hand enabled these films to have a marketable, bankable release at that time. Before OTT platforms and after the DVD shop era, Multiplex-friendly cinema became a big deal. Cut to 2023 Telugu cinema, despite the fact films are never really made keeping a single screen or a multiplex audience in mind, one does find an odd film or two dealing with a) a taboo or b) an urban phenomenon or both. Mr Pregnant, Syed Sohel Ryan's latest film, is one of them, significant differences notwithstanding. As someone who avidly consumed Hindi cinema in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the urbanisation of Indian cinema, with its set sensibilities, is not lost upon me. 

But maybe it is unfair for me to bring Bollywood into this conversation. As the world of Mr Pregnant, where Gautham (Sohel) a tattoo artist decides to carry his wife's baby, might as well find itself deriving its creative core from the satirical, social norm-subverting cinema of the late EVV Satyanarayana. For all the shock value the film's core premise presents, that of a man getting pregnant, Mr Pregnant still manages to pack in the casual regressiveness (Homophobic humour and all). There is a somewhat traditional romance between Mahi (a wonderful yet wasted Roopa Koduvayur) and Gautham, and by that I mean, Roopa pines over Gautham and Gautham goes, "OK FINE I will marry you". We are also introduced to a bit of Gautham's world, where his nemesis, a fellow Tattoo artist gets dumped by his fiance after losing to Gautham in a tattoo competition. I did not think either could be possible but here we are. Speaking of which, nothing prepared me for the context in which Gautham decides to take on gestational responsibilities.  

Anyone familiar with both basic biology and the basics of the ongoing culture war will tell you that male pregnancy is only possible when the man in question is an AFAB (assigned female at birth). But Gautham is not trans here at all. When he tells Mahi that he does not want children, I kept waiting for him to come out as trans but that never happens. Even the story of Thomas Beatie, who Gautham cites as a precedent for men getting pregnant, comes with the caveat of Thomas being a woman at birth, something the writers of the film omit in the film. A cursory glance at the Wikipedia page of male pregnancy does reveal that male ectopic pregnancy is theoretically possible and has never been attempted before. Now that bioethics and logistics have been suspended in mid-air, Mr Pregnant almost qualifies as bizarre science fiction. Ah, if only.

Despite the booming BGM with the words Ardhanareeshwara Namostuthe (oh half man-half woman, I bow to thee), the throwaway reference of Vishnu birthing Brahma and the seahorse locket Sohel constantly wears after getting pregnant (the seahorse is the only animal where the male gives birth) — Mr Pregnant scarcely concerns itself with the politics of a man giving birth. Like most films, everything that could happen in the film happens to make the hero the bigger man, the better man, the more heroic man. The choice to opt for male pregnancy as a narrative conduit to convey the above agenda only makes Mr Pregnant marginally interesting. This does not qualify it to be a great film, but it sure makes things a little less boring.

Every film sets you up with some expectations as it progresses. Based on one's worldview and preferences, the expectations mould accordingly. Mr Pregnant straddles the world of commercial cinema, alongside themes commercial cinema would not even consider. The novelty of the story keeps the proceedings worth looking out for. But when you see Sohel beating up men at two different places in the film, despite being fully pregnant, you know quite clearly the kind of film you are in for.