Spoilers ahead about ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan’. Hitesh Kewalya’s Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan unfolds like the typical Indian romant...
Spoilers ahead about ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan’.
Hitesh Kewalya’s Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan unfolds like the typical Indian romantic film, except that the heterosexual couple has been replaced by a pair of gay men. Ayushmann Khurrana plays Kartik, the more flamboyant of the two, while Aman (Jitendra Kumar) is the docile one who has concealed his sexuality from his family all his life.
Aman’s coming out especially bothers his father Shankar (Gajraj Rao), a scientist who has grown a new type of cauliflower. The other colourful characters include Shankar’s suppressed brother Chaman (Manu Rishi Chadha) and Chaman’s daughter Goggle (Maanvi Gagroo), who has a reason for wearing eyeshades at all times.
Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhaan is the directorial debut of Kewalya, who wrote Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan (2017), a comedy revolving around erectile dysfunction. In an interview, Kewalya broke down character arcs and key scenes from his gay romcom and revealed the secret behind Shankar’s black cauliflower.
How do you write a mainstream entertainer about a homosexual couple?
As a heterosexual man, I will never understand what being a homosexual is like. What I understand is homophobia. As a Delhi boy, I grew up being told not to cry like a girl or show emotion and man up. My sensitive side would have to be boxed in. Such...
