Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) [Movie Review]

Dir: Shree Narayan Singh

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar

Dur: 2 hrs 25 mins

Genre: Romantic Drama
Rating: 8/10

I think this was a film India needed. The cases of open defecation are too numerous and too common to evoke any feelings of disgust or pity. I don’t think we were a people of filth, because Mohenjo-daro and Harappa excavations show elaborate drainage systems, but I think we have pretty much developed into a people and land of filth. Don’t believe me? Look at our bus stops for starters or corners in public places or heritage sites, if you don’t find pan stains, names, vandalism or the smell of urine, please let me know so that I can put it on my all-too-short list of clean places in India.

Shree Narayan Singh does brilliantly on his directorial debut with a provoking film on sanitation. There were a lot of good things about the film like the performance of the lead pair. Akshay captivates in his usual style. Bhumi was a discovery for me. I’m proud of her for her performance and doubly proud since she shares Goan blood. The songs were decent and so was the choreography. The film however had more than its fair share of poop, shall I say. The initial story buildup is rather forced and the dialogues between Akshay and Divyendu a tad frustrating. I mean, come on, why does almost every Bollywood comedy have to involve a best friend pair who almost continuously spill dialogue after dialogue in a vain attempt at humour?! Give it a break! Find some authentic way to be humourous. This is just plain cliché.

The Government is shown in pretty good light (no wonder they endorsed and encouraged the film). Social and religious culture and tradition takes a beating and a well-deserved one. Surprisingly, the film is based on real life incidents that shook the societies they came from but hardly made the news until the release of this film.

Nevertheless, in a case of “better late than never” I think Toilet despite its typical Bollywood melodrama does a pretty good job and its box office success speaks for itself. Leaving aside the pathetic filmy romance, the film offered a strong message garbed in carefully diplomatic filmography. India needs a change of mindset, not just with regard to its sanitation but with regard to life in general. The human person must be restored to the central place and socio-cultural and religious norms must be understood to be secondary to the human being. These things are made for human beings, by human beings and human beings aren’t made for them. While Toilet argues for a change of mindset it doesn’t really show how it must or can be done except in a very unnatural and unreal way. While the film must be credited for opening eyes to the fact that pinching the nose everytime one walks by a public place, it isn’t enough; Every one of us are responsible for taking the swachha movement forward and you don’t have to divorce your partner over it, you could start by keeping your spit in your mouth and reserving your urine for the toilet.