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Mere Husband Ki Biwi Movie Review: In one scene of Mere Husband Ki Biwi, Arjun Kapoor, in a moment of self-introspection, calls himself sasta “Vicky Kaushal”. While I can easily imagine Vicky Kaushal IRL quoting Kader Khan from Dulhe Raja with a "ye meri taareef hai ya tauheen" line, I wish the film had the honesty to call itself sasta 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'. It’s as if director Mudassar Aziz watched the Aanand L Raai movie, didn’t like the ending (neither did I BTW), and decided to rectify it - only to produce a film so deeply problematic that there aren’t even any good laughs to distract us. ‘Mere Husband Ki Biwi’: Arjun Kapoor Gets Stuck in a Tug-of-War Between Bhumi Pednekar and Rakul Preet Singh in First Look Poster.
Ankur Chaddha (Arjun Kapoor) is a divorced rich boy tormented by nightmares of being assaulted by his ex-wife Prabhleen (Bhumi Pednekar). Let me be honest - I was intrigued when Ankur kept imagining his wife’s 'abuses' and curious to see how a Hindi film would handle a domestic abuse scenario where the wife is the perpetrator, leaving the husband to suffer from PTSD even after the divorce. Alas, how wrong I was! But I’ll come to that in a bit.
Watch the Trailer of 'Mere Husband Ki Biwi':
While wallowing in his role as a sad divorcee, Ankur gets the chance to reconnect with an old college mate Antara (Rakul Preet Singh) for whom he once had a monetary crush. They begin a relationship, and he even proposes to her. It is then that Prabhleen returns to his life - having lost her memory in an accident such that she recalls nothing beyond his wedding proposal to her five years ago. As Ankur grapples with this sticky situation, he remains oblivious to the fact that his ex and his current love are locked in a battle of wits over him. And, like me, you might keep on asking… why girls? Why him? (PS: this is not a slight against Arjun Kapoor.)
'Mere Husband Ki Biwi' Movie Review - A Moment of Genuine Depth That Gets Killed Instantly
Mere Husband Ki Biwi certainly purports to present a victim of domestic abuse - but not Ankur, as the film initially suggests. In a surprisingly serious flashback scene that reveals why the couple’s marriage failed, the film establishes Prabhleen as a victim of her husband’s emotional neglect - a man who refuses to grow up and expects her to care for him unconditionally. There’s a moment when she takes an extreme step, and I found myself siding with her; at no point did I feel any sympathy for Ankur.
I was genuinely surprised. After launching the movie with a series of terrible, even tasteless, “Dilli men will be men” jokes and a problematic depiction of Russian women (was that scene inserted simply because Harsh Gujral is in the cast?), I didn’t expect Mudassar Aziz to deliver a ‘Mrs’ sequence that calls out the sexist nature of privileged men who hate it when women prioritise their careers over their domestic roles - never mind that the song playing over the sequence kept reminding me of a somber version of Love Aaj Kal’s "Aahun Aahun".
Surprised I should have been - for all the wrong reasons - as the film still expected me to feel sorry for Ankur, who continually casts himself as the victim - even delivering a lengthy speech near the end about how Prabhleen nearly ruined his life. No one ever shook him hard, threw him into a cold river, or woke him up to reality. In fact, after hearing his sob story in that flashback scene, when Antara chose to distance herself from him, I thought that was for the best - she had some sense. Yet again, surprise! She was apparently heartbroken that he hadn’t given her a grand proposal like he did for Prabhleen. Seriously, woman, were you and I not hearing the same story of how much of a jerk he had been to his former wife?
What can you say when Prabhleen - the actual victim, who suffers even more due to the accident, her memory loss, and having to fall for the same unlikeable man all over again - is painted as the villain? One character even goes so far as to call her a “dragon.” Russian women apart, I should have caught the film’s low regard for even the desi female characters in the opening act itself, where Ankur’s domestic help sexually propositions him after he refuses to give her a raise. ‘Jab Hogi Tabh Aap Sabh Ko Bata Dunga’: Arjun Kapoor Breaks Silence on Marriage Plans Post-Breakup With Malaika Arora (Watch Video).
'Mere Husband Ki Biwi' Movie Review - Seriously Unfunny Business
By the time the farce shifts to the UK in the name of a destination wedding (this is, after all, a Puja Films product), Mere Husband Ki Biwi veers into humdrum Tanu Weds Manu Returns territory, where the two women battle for dominance over a man-child no woman should ever be with. There’s some unfunny business, more romantic conflicts, and even a dumb-charades scene that made me wistfully recall Kajol performing Rangeela in KKHH. No, that scene had nothing to do with this movie; I was just remembering a better scene from a better film.
Then comes a huge dramatic confrontation where Ankur berates Antara over a matter so trivial I am shamed to even call it a 'conflict', before everything is resolved at an airport. Yes, at an airport - such is the laziness of this movie that it simply couldn’t shake off its clichés.
To top it all off, you simply don’t care for any of the characters, as they are all products of painfully shallow writing. Prabhleen, in particular, makes a mockery of her own tragic backstory, which is revealed later through a poorly handled secret. The performances, to put it mildly, are underwhelming. While I appreciated Arjun Kapoor in the otherwise horrendous Singham Again, here he fails to rise above the problematic trappings of his character, delivering a forgettable performance. Bhumi Pednekar’s portrayal feels forced and artificial, especially when she plays the loud Punjabi girl, though she fares slightly better in the flashback sequences. As for Rakul Preet Singh, her role feels like a carbon copy of her character in De De Pyaar De, offering nothing new or memorable.
Harsh Gujral is handed most of the film’s supposedly funny lines, and credit must be given to him for at least trying to make them work, even if they fail to land. Kanwaljit Singh’s presence, however, feels like a baffling paradox - he was in Mrs a couple of weeks back and now he is wasted in a movie that is a shallow antithesis of that film.
'Mere Husband Ki Biwi' Movie Review - Final Thoughts
Mere Husband Ki Biwi stumbles over its own intentions, attempting to mask regressive tropes as progressive storytelling. Instead, it reinforces the same tired clichés, pitting women against each other over an unlikeable hero, leaving the audience feeling like the ultimate losers. With its shallow writing, uninspired performances, and a storyline that undermines its own supposed message (if there even was one), it’s hard to find anything worth rooting for. Rarely does a film come along where you wish none of the characters get a happy ending - Mere Husband Ki Biwi manages to achieve just that.
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 21, 2025 11:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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