SHUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN: A JAW-DROPPING LAUGHTER FEST YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO MISS

Sperm donation put him on the map. And now it seems that erectile dysfunction might just take him places. Here's a man who's definitely not afraid of taking risks with themes that would make other leading actors shy away, let alone play those characters. And the icing on the cake, Ayushmann reunites with his Dum Laga Ke Haisha co-star Bhumi Pednekar for this one. Yes, we saw the trailer of R S Prasanna's Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and to put it simply, this is probably the best Bollywood trailer in a long long time. It leaves you curious, it leaves you in shock, it brings a smile to your face and it makes your jaw drop—all at once.

Mudit (Ayushmann Khurrana) is the quite, shy salesman who falls for the live-wire Sugandha (Bhumi Pednekar), the quintessential desi, rustic girl who doesn't believe in holding back anything in life. Mudit and Sugandha seem to be heading to the perfect happy ending—they are in love with each other and are all set to commit to each other for life. However, one fine day during their courtship period, the two love-birds actually decide to express their love to each other and this is when Mudit finds out that he's suffering from erectile dysfunction. Needless to say, all hell breaks lose. His in-laws find out about his medical condition and go on to threaten to call off the wedding itself! Shubh Mangal Saavdhan aims to show all that happens in this chaotic set-up and test the power of Mudit and Sugandha's love.

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is the official remake of the Tamil rom-com, Kalyana Samayal Saadham, and is directed by RS Prasanna, who also helmed the original film. Well, oh boy, what a way to make the perfect first impression! We've become so accustomed to watching the same kind of romance on-screen that SMS feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air. We loved the simplicity of these relatable characters based in the heartland of a small town that we don't miss the exotic locales and dancing in snow-capped Alps at all! And of course, we love how a simple 'against all odds' romantic story has been used to deal with issues such as premarital sex and erectile dysfunction, issues which are still hardly spoken about in our country. Full marks to Aanand L Rai for supporting a project so bold yet so simple.

Another facet where the film scores is how the actors bring the characters to life. Remember how we went bonkers recently over the trailer of Bareily Ki Barfi? Ayushmann Khurrana takes it a notch higher with this one. He looks fabulous as the introvert salesman and the underplay is so on point that you end up feeling for the poor chap. On the other hand, Bhumi is the show stealer. She's bold, brash and the innocent comic timing is on point. The lead pair's comfort level shows on-screen and whenever they come together in a frame, there's a wide grin on your face. Too cute! Ayushmann and Bhumi are supported by a stellar cast, which includes names like Brijendra Kalra, Manuj Sharma and Anshul Chauhan who makes her big debut in what promises to be an absolute joyride. All these factors come together to make sure that there is no dull moment in the SMS trailer. A special mention to the 'Ali Baba Aur Chaalis Chor' scene. We were left rolling on the floor laughing!

On the whole, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan breaks norms, shatters stereotypes and at the same time succeeds in taking us into the world of Mudit and Sugandha only to make us want to buy those damn tickets for the first day first show! With a release date of September 1, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan will be facing-off with Milan Luthria's Baadshaho, which is undoubtedly a much bigger film compared to SMS. However, we've seen numerous incidents of a small film coming out of nowhere to oust a big-budgeted film. SMS should do really well in the metropolitan cities but will it be able to emerge as the ultimate underdog and better Baadshaho at the box-office? Well, we would love to see something like that because who doesn't love a classic 'underdog making it big' story?

Produced by Colour Yellow Pictures, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan releases on 1 September 2017.