Khandaani Shafakhana

Khandaani Shafakhana (Family-Owned Sex Clinic) aspires to convey a good message (that of sex education to the masses (interior India)) but fails to do so because of its uninspiring screenplay, crass jokes (mainly by Varun Sharma), and a snail-paced narrative that takes the formulaic approach of a good-intentioned woman (Sonakshi Sinha) being assumed evil by the society for being 'obscene'. For anyone who has been closely following Bollywood, this social dramedy will be reminiscent of other films in recent times chafing the same topic and it is just amazing how much you can predict what's going to happen with the same prejudiced family members, the good Samaritan protagonist, his well-wishing stranger-turned-friend, and the evil corporations. Even Sinha acts like the way she has been acting since after her Dabangg (2010) days. There's no novelty in Khaandaani Shafakhana save for its catchy name, and with that preachy undertone and mocking courtroom sequence at the end, it just adds to it being just below average. The content is good but just falls short of being handled with finesse and imagination. Badshah should probably stick to rapping. TN.

A theme which in the hands of a capable director could have done well. But a poor script along with uneven performances make this venture unwatchable. Poor jokes and the excruciatingly slow pace just adds on to the mental torture.

#FinalVerdict:

Directed by debutant filmmaker Shilpi Das Gupta, Khandaani Shafakhana is APPLAUDABLE for tackling the social taboo surrounding sex and fertility issues without resorting to cheap humour and double meaning jokes. Brave Attempt!

PROS: Super premise.Sparkling performances.

Sonakshi Sinha (Extraordinary), Varun Sharma (Brilliant), Annu Kapoor (Top-notch), Badshah (Confident), Priyansh Jora (Solid), Nadira Babbar (Perfect) and Kulbhushan Kharbanda (Convincing).

Several LOL moments.The setting of a small town in Punjab with a dusty old clinic, the busy side lanes of a grand bazaar and middle-class Indian household filled with endearing but meddling family members add to the overall impact.

CONS: Length and excruciatingly slow pace play spoilsport...Some vital scenes fall flat, seem monotonous and forced. The romantic angle too, seem unnecessary. Also, the emotional scenes slacken the pace and at times, feel didactic.

On the whole, Khandaani Shafakhana is bold and makes a strong case by putting out its message in a light-hearted sapid manner. Go for it!

Brilliant performance by Sonakshi Sinha, single handedly carried the movie! Movie is informative and may be metropolitan people don't realise the importance of this movie but surely small town people can relate to it. I am very Impressed by Sonakshi's performance.

KHANDAANI SHAFAKHANA REVIEW :



Taboo breaking films are so rare and therefore impactful. Recently Padman, Shubhmangal Saavadhan and Vicky Donor were those rare films with strong Content and Excellent presentations. Those films really changed the narrow minded thinking of some people hence Khandaani Shafakhana was highly anticipated since the interesting trailer made the mark for excitement. Sex Clinic patients are supposed to keep it a secret and Khandaani Shafakhana ask the question why should people keep it a secret? Why shouldn't they talk about it openly? Awareness on sex education is must then of course keeping it a secret won't really help you, will it?

Lets come to the film and its story, Baby is a middle class working girl who gets her uncle's Sex Clinic in bequest. But the problem starts here that Baby being a Girl and running a Sex Clinic is not acceptable for sophisticated people in society. The battle for her Income, Respect plus her desire to spread the awareness on taboo subject takes the story forward. The potential was definitely there when you take a content like this but the execution is not enough to make the noise. Acting wise Sonakshi Sinha as Baby does what she could do but the decency in the character was damn too high. In supporting roles, Varun Sharma is funny but nothing great. Debutant Priyanshu Jora as Love Interest of Baby is again Decent just because the character let him look decent, the writing wasn't powerful enough to leave an impact. Baadshah does what he usually do in his music video and may be that's why he is likeable. Annu Kapoor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Nadira Babbar does their job on individual levels.

Khandaani Shafakhana lacks the impressive dialogue writing as well as strong boost in the climax. Music too doesn't offer anything to recall, so are the lyrics. Screenplay is stretched for no specific reasons, it should have altered in both the half of the narrative. In 135 minutes, you hardly see the content getting explored for 30 minutes or something. The constructive mindset of Director Shilpi Dasgupta and typical drama film materials have spoiled the uniqueness of the subject.

Overall, Khandaani Shafakhaana is an honest attempt to make people talk freely on Sex disorders but the noise is too low to hear. It might change the narrow minded thinking of some people who suffered a lot because of these issues otherwise neutral Audience will hardly get anything to enjoy. The kind of expectations it created from the trailer are not matched surely, still at least quarter part is achieved. If you really think you can connect with the theme blindly then go for it, and if you want to watch something special then you better wait for upcoming releases.

RATING- 4/10*