Review : Well Done Baby : Tutorial for the first time ‘expecting’ couples!

‘Well Done Baby’, directed by debutant Priyanka Tanwar is about unwanted pregnancy which can be termed as a tutorial for the couples who are expecting their first child. It revolves around Aditya (Pushkar Jog), Meera (Amruta Khanvilkar) and her mother Nirmala (Vandana Gupte). The story is written by Marmabandh Ghvhane underlines undercurrents in a young couple’s marriage which is on the verge of a divorce, which takes a U-turn when a ‘Baby’ is on the way.

In earlier times in a joint family scenario a lot of things were easy because of ‘experienced’ people present in the house, especially during pregnancy. Later in the nuclear family scenario, most of the times, girl’s parents are called over for guidance during pregnancy. Similarly, in ‘Well Done Baby’, Meera (Amruta Khanvilkar), who is studying for PhD, calls her mother to visit her in London when her marriage with Aditya (Pushkar Jog), who is a Consulting Psychiatrist, is on the rocks. They consult marriage counsellor (Sanjay Jadhav) and try to save their marriage but in vain. Small bickering turns into bigger brawls and the couple decides to opt for a divorce. But it’s found that Meera has missed her periods and her pregnancy test is positive. Perplexed with the situation both Aditya and Meera, decide not to get pressurised with the situation and go in for an abortion. But when in a park Aditya sees a young couple with a kid who looks extremely happy as a family unit, changes his mind and now wants to save their marriage for the sake of the ‘Baby’. Meera’s mother Nirmala was always against abortion and she backs their decision of going ahead with the pregnancy. All this happens in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and rest of the movie revolves around how the young NRI couple cope with the pregnancy and save their problematic marriage.

The story has nothing new to offer as the subject has been handled in many movies across languages. The screenplay (Marmabandha Gavhane) is good, so are the dialogues. Debutant director has delicately handled the subject of unwanted pregnancy in a nuclear NRI family. But it has done in a simple manner without arousing curiosity of the audience. She has tried to portray old-school thoughts on pregnancy and relationships. It throws a message on unwanted pregnancies as well as the importance of family values. The change of heart of Aditya has not come about as effectively as it should have come across. The director should  have used more visuals instead of verbose scenes. Technical aspects are excellent and special mention for cinematography (Santonio Terzio and Mohsin Khan Pathan) which is outstanding. London looks additionally beautiful though their lenses. Rohan Rohan’s music is good and adds to the narrative of the story. Costume department has done a very good job and Amruta and Pushkar’s costumes which are eye-catching. ‘Well Done Baby’ scores in acting department as Pushkar Jog plays his part perfectly. His irritating and convoluted Aditya is perfect. His frustration of not being able to solve conflicts has come out well. His vulnerability comes across nicely. Amruta Khanvilkar has aced with Meera’s portrayal. She beautifully projects Meera’s frustrations, her dilemma, her insecurities, and her urge to gain some kind of normalcy in her life. Vandana Gupte is good as always but her character looks a bit unbaked. Sanjay Jadhav is good in his marriage counsellor’s role. It’s a plus for this movie that it’s runtime is 99 minutes.

‘Well Done Baby’ is a ‘Gudi Padva’ gift for marathi audiences and the fans of Amruta Khanvilkar and Pushkar Jog will definitely love this film.