Maybe, in his endeavour to reach out to an ‘immature’ 15–30-year-old audience, director Mudassar Aziz dumps logic and maturity, delivering his most disappointing complex relationship drama.
Rating: ⭐️ (1 / 5)
By Mayur Lookhar
Films fail. Well, most Bollywood films have been failing over the years. Seldom do filmmakers and actors reflect on the reasons. Most just move on to the next release. So, when a filmmaker opens up about the reasons for their film’s failure, it is a sign of humility and acknowledgment of where the film may have gone wrong.
Seasoned writer-filmmaker Mudassar Aziz was naturally hurt by his Independence Day release Khel Khel Mein tanking at the box office last year. In a rare instance, he somewhat blamed the audience for their lack of maturity in understanding the film (he largely referred to the 15–30 age bracket, which forms a sizable chunk of entertainment content consumers, as most data would suggest). That naturally made headlines, but it would be immature to jump to conclusions without understanding the context.
His precise words were, “There is a certain mental intelligence and awareness about relationships that are prerequisites for understanding a film like Khel Khel Mein.”
Fast forward to February 2025, and the director has given us Mere Husband Ki Biwi, where in his endeavor to reach out to an ‘immature’ 15–30-year-old audience, Mudassar Aziz dumps logic and maturity, delivering his most disappointing film.
Phew! Usually, a review would commence with a brief description of the story, but if the director himself has taken an eternity to get to the primary conflict, why should we scratch our heads spelling out the core story?
At 143 minutes, Mere Husband Ki Biwi is a lesson in bad writing and bad filmmaking, reeking of one cringe-worthy scene after another. Where do we begin? It’s a hard task. After the opening nightmare scene, Ankur Chaddha (Arjun Kapoor) and his best pal Rehan Qureshi (Harsh Gujral) head to a friend’s bachelor party. Honestly, this writer doesn’t have much experience attending bachelor parties, but in this film, Ankur and Rehan go to one where the hosts have invited Russian escorts. Well, this might be a scene from high-profile Delhi bachelor parties, but wouldn’t it be bizarre to find your father there too? It isn’t surprising to see Shakti Kapoor play the dad.
The shy Ankur can’t turn away a pretty Russian. They head for a cozy enclosure, but before things can get steamy, he hallucinates about his ex-wife, Prabhleen Dhillon (Bhumi Pednekar). Scarred by a bitter divorce, he ends up pushing the Russian lady. Ankur and Rehan are roughed up and thrown out of the party. As they lick their wounds while sitting in the car, Rehan has the gumption to tell his friend to chuck all these bachelor parties, which he ridicules as a high-society matter. Well, classic middle-class hypocrisy.
Ankur heeds Rehan’s advice and heads to Rishikesh, where his former colleague Antara Khanna (Rakul Preet Singh) glides into his life. Antara is a hang-gliding trainer. They meet, hang out, and Ankur even dares to glide with Antara. Upon landing, the acrophobic Ankur feels nauseous, while the girl smiles. Having turned down his initial proposal, Ankur comes up with a bizarre way to impress her—he glides his way into a plush mall, landing right in front of Antara and her tough, rude brother, Ricky (Dino Morea). A few dramatic dialogues later, our girl—and even her brother—are impressed.
Soon, the couple is set to be married, with a lavish ceremony and reception lined up in Scotland. However, Ankur is once again haunted by his troubled past as Prabhleen walks back into his life. Shaken by the news of her hospitalization, Ankur visits his ex-wife and is stunned to learn that she has lost the last five years of her memory. In Prabhleen’s mind, she is recently married to Ankur, unaware of the bitter divorce and the primary reason that triggered it. We leave that to the viewers. Soon, we have Prabhleen tagging along with Ankur and his fiancée, Antara, to Scotland.
That explains the title Mere Husband Ki Biwi, borrowed from the Marathi TV series Majha Navrachi Bayko (My Husband’s Wife). However, the inspiration is limited to the title alone. Illogical in life, but even in fiction, Mere Husband Ki Biwi is a recipe for disaster—and Aziz’s horrendous screenplay makes it insufferable.
Chuck the story—returning to the cringe fest, Ankur’s proposal to Prabhleen will literally bust your head. The Romeo lands up uninvited at the lady’s house, riding a horse, accompanied by a band and his best pal, Rehan. Ankur begins by saying he was so excited yet nervous that he hasn’t brushed his teeth, while Rehan couldn’t even go to the pot. He bares his heart and seeks Prabhleen’s parents’ approval. Thankfully, stunned by her beau’s obnoxious behaviour, the girl rightly refuses to even acknowledge him. We reckon most viewers will likely be turned off after this cringeworthy proposal.
The screenplay is essentially divided into two halves—the first requires enduring Ankur’s sob story, while the second largely focuses on Prabhleen’s amnesia and the corresponding drama.
Aziz has built a career on complex relationship sagas, but Mere Husband Ki Biwi is inarguably his most disappointing film. A thorough gentleman and soft-spoken, Aziz comes across as a man with great command over Hindi, Urdu, and English. That is why it hurts all the more to see such a bad film like Mere Husband Ki Biwi. Aziz’s cinema can be edgy, but never insensitive. However, in this film, the writer-filmmaker is guilty of just that. Dark humour is fine for certain tastes, but how Aziz equates the personal conflicts in the film to the Israel-Palestine situation is beyond belief. This is just not funny, sir. And if that wasn’t enough, he even drags Ukraine into his toilet humour. In fact, even his last film faced criticism for trivialising mental health. Mere Husband Ki Biwi makes a mockery of mental health and physical issues.
Aziz’s cinema is largely defined by complex relationships. The director has experienced that in his personal life too, but for a man of his class, can’t he think beyond these silly, complex relationship dramas? At the heart of this film is a message on failed marriages, where it appears to suggest that the woman was chiefly responsible for the divorce here. Feminists will cry misogyny, but in the current social environment, where a couple of tragic divorce cases have given wings to misogyny, Prabhleen Dhillon is likely to face criticism.
Bhumi Pednekar hasn’t just lost her screen presence; she has also gone overboard with these clichéd, loud North Indian characters. Clearly, it is not working—why can’t she go back to her roots?
For all the usual flak he receives, Arjun Kapoor does little to change that in Mere Husband Ki Biwi. To be fair to him, though, he is at least sincere in a few emotional scenes.
Being the producer’s wife comes with its privileges, but Rakul Preet Singh needs to bring much more to the table. If one observes carefully, the second half of the film comes across as a quasi-Pati, Patni Aur Woh—just with a fiancé, fiancée, and an ex-wife instead.
Harsh Gujral’s casting is reminiscent of Luv Ranjan picking popular stand-up comedian Anubhav Bassi in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (2023) . Make no mistake, Gujral comes across as a better actor. Rehan Qureshi, however, is just another variant of Fahim Rizvi (Aparshakti Khurana) from Aziz’s Pati Patni Aur Woh (2019). Gujral shows promise but has to endure the insult of being called a sasta (cheap) Vicky Kaushal in the film. How disrespectful. Even Kaushal is unlikely to be amused. Well, Gujral’s fans will be quick to point out that, at least in his stand-up shows, there are no block bookings, no 1+1 offers.
We are no one to advise Mudassar Aziz, but these complex relationship dramas are past their sell-by date. We can understand Aziz’s frustration when Khel Khel Mein is rejected by the audience, but for a classy man like him to lower his bar to suit a certain target audience or simply pander to a piece of data is a sheer sign of desperation. God forbid, if the box office numbers don’t stack up for his latest release, what reason will you give now, Mr. Aziz?
Video review to follow.
