Thank You For Coming : Karan Boolan’s film about a 30-year-old woman who has never had an orgasm combines the search for sexual pleasure with a search for “prince charming” that is old-fashioned, not to mention far from the feminist ideal. Read the review written given below about “Thank you for coming”.
Sex comedies can be a revolutionary genre, especially in India where sex is still taboo. And especially when it comes to women, whose sexuality is still strongly controlled. But thanks for coming doesn’t ignite revolutions; in fact, its muddled trot of feminist tropes feels preachy at best and messy at worst.
Thank You For Coming Directed by Karan Boolan and written by Radhika Anand and Prashasti Singh. The Thank you for coming comedy stars Bhumi Pednekar in the lead along with a strong female cast along with Shehnaaz Gill, Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh and Shibani Bedi. The story revolves around Kanika Kapoor (Pednekar), a typical Dilli Kii boy who calls his friends ‘ friends’, drinks like a fish and is afraid of growing old.
But Kanika, as we learn, had an atypical upbringing. Born out of wedlock and brought up in the house of single mothers – grandmother (Dolly Ahluwalia) and mother (Natasha Rastogi), Kanika grows up enduring her mother’s vile taunts, conveyed through nicknames like “kuari Kanika” and “kaandu Kanika”. . . ‘. Caught in the middle of a neglectful mother and a conservative society, Kanika develops a confused sense of love and sexuality – and forms bonds with several men (Sushant Divgikar, Karan Kundrra and Anil Kapoor), none of whom satisfy her emotionally or spiritually. sexually
In Kanika’s 30th birthday drunken monologue, a lament about not finding “the one” suddenly turns into a confession that she’s never had an orgasm. Her search for sexual pleasure forces her to marry Jeevan Anand (Pradhuman Singh), whose name, as her friend points out, literally means “life insurance”. This sudden leap from orgasm to marriage suggests greater confusion. film – where the search for sexual pleasure mixes with the search for “Prince Charming”, old-fashioned, if not far from the feminist ideal. “70% of women don’t orgasm during sex,” says Kanika’s gynecologist mother, and while that may be true, how does marriage follow that? It is worth mentioning that while the film is about underestimating female orgasms, when Jeevan Anand goes to bed prematurely, Kanika responds with confusion and disgust – followed by Jeevan’s apology and embarrassment.
A series of wedding and dance-filled pre-wedding episodes ensue, culminating in a night of drunken debauchery where someone orgasms from Kanika. The catch, however, is that she remembers no one, and here we come to the heart of the film: the long-term search for this magical lover. Pednekar is brilliant as Kanika and brings strength and authenticity to what could otherwise have been a rather frivolous character. Similarly, Dolly Singh and Shibani Bedi provide perfect entertainment as the ever-loyal and fierce friends, and the trio’s ever-rife friendship is one of the best parts of the film (although the plot drives a wedge between them that needs to be resolved , quite subtly, in the climax). My personal favourite was Pradhuman Singh as the awkward Jeevan, perfectly cast: the sequence where he shows Kanika their new house with modern toilet flushes is hilarious. Another hit for me was Shehnaaz Gill as Rush, a character who has no compelling reason to be in the film but lands everywhere with his desi one-liners.
Most of the problem with the film lies in the script, which on the one hand brings up strange plot points at certain moments and leaves them unexplored; and on the other hand, fails to develop any of the characters into believable three-dimensional people, and defaults entirely to exploring their own relationships with each other. Kanika’s home life, for example, had so much potential to build and explore its own dynamic with Ahluwalia (grandmother) and Rastog (mother), not to mention the dynamic between the two. But we get painfully little of that, just as we get painfully little of what Kanika does. Her job seems to be hanging out with her friends and finding the perfect man. A movie trope emerges: promiscuous mother, self-indulgent daughter, supportive friends, etc.
It offers great one-part and carefree dance sequences to entertain you. But again, the ending feels forced, like the movie is trying to shove a moral lesson down your throat, the significant act of a 32-year-old woman grabbing a 16-year-old girl’s microphone. “Smash the patriarchy” screams. This mixing of comedy and moralism is a problem everywhere, although it doesn’t have to be, as we have seen in films like Queen, Vicky Donor and others. Overall, Thanks For Coming is a fun watch, but also a missed opportunity.
