Raksha Bandhan review: Akshay Kumar yet again fails to leave an impact despite depicting the right amount of humour and emotions

By:- Aakruti Bagla

Directed by:– Aanand L Rai

Starcast:– Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Deepika Khanna, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth

Runtime:– 1 hour 50 min

Rating:– 2/5

Story:

The film revolves around Lala Kedarnath (Akshay Kumar), the eldest and only brother of 4 sisters, who runs a chaat shop that was started by his father. Lala promises his frail mother on her deathbed that he will get married only after he fulfils the responsibility of marrying his sisters into suitable homes. In pursuit to marry his childhood love Sapna(Bhumi Pednekar) as her father gives him an ultimatum, Lala is hell-bent on getting his sisters married. But, he is unable to collect an exorbitant sum of money for a dowry, which acts as a roadblock in the way to getting his sisters married.

Will Lala Kedarnath be able to fulfil the promise given to his mother? Will his sisters get an ideal match? Will he be able to marry his childhood love?
Well, these questions are answered in the flick.

Review

Director Aanand L Rai along with Kanika Dhillon and Himanshu Sharma brings an endearing tale of love, joy, family and the unbreakable bond between siblings on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. The film also attempts to showcase the tradition of dowry turning out to be murderous for society.

During the first half, there are enough moments that crack you up, but things take an emotional turn in the second half of the film with some grim moments that are sure to leave you moist-eyed.

While humour and emotions are blended in the right amount, when it comes to addressing the subplots like dowry, racism, and body-shaming, among others, things proceed without proper explanation. On one hand, Lala loves his sisters, but despite that, he is often seen poking fun at his sisters for having the aforementioned flaws, however, it’s their bang-on responses that convey one should embrace how they are.

Our protagonist ultimately realises the social evil that is dowry after selling his kidney and being trapped by an unforeseen catastrophe, and how he should instead be educating his sisters so that they may establish a reputation for themselves.
We wish this unfolded a bit earlier!

But once he finally realises making his sisters capable, we see the rest of the three sisters and Lalaji himself getting settled in the last 25 minutes of the film. This portion of realisation is executed without any nuance.

Talking about performances, Akshay Kumar’s comic timing leaves you chuckling. The actor also plays emotional parts with conviction. Bhumi Pednekar is reduced to a romantic interest pining to get married to the supposed love of her life. There is absolutely no depth to her character other than this. Out of four sisters, Sadia Khateeb as Gayatri delivers a praiseworthy performance. While, Deepika Khanna, Sahejmeen Kaur, and Smrithi Srikanth are honest in their roles. Seema Pahwa’s character enters on a promising note but disappears midway.
When it comes to music, the background score helps to lift the scenes, however, songs by Himesh Reshammiya are forgettable. In fact, after a time songs seem like only adding to the runtime of the film.

While K.U.Mohanan’s camera work captures Lala Kedarnath’s world in a captivating way, and Prakash Chandra Sahoo and Hemal Kothari’s editing works seamlessly.

Final words
When it comes to emotions and humour, the film is a perfect festive bonanza. But, it fails to leave an impact as the social message is not conveyed well.