Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, the name of the film says it all. It’s a love story bound with a subject of tackling defecation in open. It’s an intriguing subject and can be explored in many ways. This is a story about Keshav (Akshay Kumar), a 12th fail 36-year-old bachelor who’s forcefully trapped with the traditional rituals applied by his father. His father, Pandit Ji (Sudhir Pandey) is someone who’ll u-turn his bike rather than going through the road crossed by a cat. On the other hand, there’s quirky, full of life, carrying I-don’t-give-a-shit about world attitude Jaya (Bhumi Pednekar). Science has already proven, opposite attracts and these two poles-apart personalities get one.
The main issue starts when they get married. Jaya’s outburst when she gets to know there’s no sanitization facility at Keshav’s house, Keshav’s attempts to challenge the years-old tradition and Pandit Ji’s baseless persistence of disallowing of toilet facility at his home is what the plot revolves around. There’s much more to the story than this and those moments make the film watchable.
The movie is full of happy-realisation. When you decide to display an issue which many are unaware about you need something to attract them, a love story in the film is one of those reasons. The first half of the film is full of some hilarious moments and second half depends majorly on drama. One issue I had with the script is it takes a lot of time to build and when it’s finally at the peak, things get done very quickly.
Director has made sure to infuse some fun moments in between to not stare the attention away from the audience. The second half is full of high emotional drama moments which tend to slow down the pace at places. A good movie should have a good intermission point and this has a very good one.
Akshay Kumar as Keshav is as honest as one can get. He has lived the role and is a perfect choice to send out this message. He makes you laugh, leaves your eyes moist and even provokes the emotions in you with his super-energetic opposition. His accent for a man living in Uttar Pradesh is perfect.
Bhumi Pednekar is the biggest revelation of the film. She as Jaya is the face of every girl who has ever faced this issue. She just makes you fall for her charm. It’s hard to master a de-glam role and she has nailed it. Her dialogue delivery, expressions are at the top of the game.
This is an honest attempt to tackle something that exists but not many are aware of it. This film will make you laugh, feel and most importantly think. Watch this for Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar’s true-to-the-soul performances.
Rating: 8.5/10