Double XL Review: A movie with right intension but let down by shoddy writing and poor execution
Double XL Movie Rating: 2 Stars
Finally watched Double XL movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Huma Qureshi, Zaheer Iqbal and Mahat Raghavendra
Director: Satramm Ramani
Release Date: 4th November 2022 in Cinemas & digital premiere from 28th December 2022 on Netflix
Story: It is the story of two oversized women and how they fight all odds to make it big in life. Saira Khanna (Sonakshi Sinha) wants to launch her own fashion label, for which her brother Saurabh Khanna (Sachin Shroff) is helping her. She wants an investor and although she is very good at her work, her being overweight comes in the way of her love life and consequently in the way of her professional life too.
Just by chance, she meets Rajshree Trivedi (Huma Qureshi) who hails from Meerut and is constantly taunted for being obese. Her mother (Alka Kaushal) wants her to get married as soon as possible, but Rajshree wants to pursue her interest in cricket by hosting a cricket show on the leading television channel of the country. Her weight comes in the way of the realization of her dreams as the channel does not even take her audition.
The two ladies collaborate for the shooting of a curtain raiser for Saira’s proposed fashion label with cameraman Srikanth Sreevardhan (Mahat Raghavendra). The trio travels to London for the shooting of the curtain raiser and is joined there by line producer Zorawar (Zaheer Iqbal). How they realise their dreams is what the film is all about.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Concept
3. Screenplay
Negatives
1. Music
2. Length
3. Direction
4. Climax
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on digital premiere because it looks good in parts only so skipped theatrical release.
The story revolves around two plus size women, one from the heartland of Uttar Pradesh and one from urban New Delhi, who discover themselves as they navigate life, celebrate female friendship and embrace body positivity, breaking the myth that beauty corresponds to size.
Double XL story tackles a fairly fresh topic. However, too much emphasis is laid on the overweight of the two protagonists coming in the way of their professional pursuits rather than jeopardizing their personal lives. This is not exactly how the traditional Hindi film-going is used to understanding the pain of oversized women. Also, the defiant attitude of the two protagonists may be found a bit too much only because in today’s age and time, people are very health-conscious and know the risks involved in being overweight. It often becomes a routine drama about two women who could as well have been normal in size.
Performances are very good, but screenplay is only good in the parts. Direction is mediocre as he has not been able to make an arresting drama. It remains a hotchpotch of happy coincidences that make everything look all too easy for the two central characters, whose struggle is supposed to be real. Sample this – they come to a foreign land on an all-expenses paid trip for a film, with a crew that has no clue about what exactly needs to be done. The writing of the film is preachy and repeatedly keeps harping on the same point in different situations that are equally hollow, leaving you with emotions that don’t really touch your heart. This further alienates us from the central premise of the film about body shaming and societal norms that restrict women from living their dreams.
As a concept, movie is refreshing and relevant. It sure takes guts on the part of the makers and the actors to weave a story around the subject. However, mediocre writing and average execution scales down the film’s original potential. Overall movie has the right intentions and does its best to convey them, but it gets lost in translation at more than a few places, owing to the length and shoddy plotting. An important film that makes for a slightly decent watch but needed to be better. My view on this movie Time Pass
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