Toilet Ek Prem Katha Review

Akshay Kumar works like a machine with his films releasing a film every 3 months. A machine which finishes the shoot at jets peed, participate in promotions and jump to the next movie and repeat. And every movie he gets to play a completely different role than the earlier. One more common aspect these days is a social or a patriotic message his movies have. The quarterly hero, has come up with Toilet Ek Prem Katha, directed by Shree Narayan Singh. The movie primarily deals with open defecation issue that exists widely in our country. It is appreciable that a top star like Akshay Kumar has come forward to play the lead in the movie which deals with a topic which is so “uncool”. Has this attempt struck the right chords or gone bad in lecture is the question.

Keshav (Akshay Kumar) runs a cycle shop in Uttar Pradesh and wishes to marry his class topper Jaya (Bhumi Padnekar). However, on the first day of marriage, Jaya learns that the in laws house doesn’t have a toilet. This shocks her and asks for a divorce. The rest of the movie is about Keshav understanding the problem and his mission to build toilet.

First things first, Akshay Kumar is the biggest asset of the film, where he makes use of his funny bone to make sure the moments are humorous but also conveying the underlying message interestingly. He seemed very focused and seemed to enjoy a character without overdoing it anywhere. Bhumi on the other hand, gives an impressive performance too and matches up to Akshay Kumar. However, the setting seemed repetitive of Dum Lagaake Haisha where she has a problem with the husband and household and the husband tries to impress her. Sudhir Pandey make a cake walk in such a role. His resistance for building the toilet reflects many of the meaningless rigidness this generation has to rebel against. Divyendu’s comic timings is good too. He should be given more such roles. His scenes with Akki evokes laughter. The first half of the film rides on very interesting moments and with good pace. There mirroring of the society is done in a very enjoyable and enlightening way. Thanks to Siddart and Garima for a captivating writing. The second half gradually drifts into preachy mode. The film starts looking like a promotion of Swach Bharat Abhiyaan as though sponsored by the Government of India using an A-list actor. The lectures are too direct and miss the magic that first half did it through its subtext.

Some analogies mentioned in the movie makes so much sense, like the Taj Mahal to the toilet. The movie is a must-watch for the rural junta and also a bitter truth told to the urban that such India still exists.

The movie has a coupe of good numbers and the settings are sometime real and some too cinematic. Shree Narayan Singh’s debut is a commendable attempt.

All in all, Toilet could have been fantastic if I had avoided being too much of a gyan-ic in the second half.