Between shrieky humour, overstated emotions and done-to-death bouts of London tourism, Double XL plods to kickstart the actual discussion, sighs Sukanya Verma.
Every now and then, comes a movie made by men about women that claims to care. But extending support without having real understanding of her issues only rings hollow.
Close on the heels of Jahaan Chaar Yaar, a silly escapade about four female friends trapped in exploitative marriages catching a break over an adventurous holiday, arrives Double XL where two women grappling with weight issues collaborate professionally and overcome stereotypical mindsets.
Except both their trauma and triumph are treated in such a trivial manner, they are unlikely to find a cheerleader.
Meerut’s Rajshri Trivedi (Huma Qureshi) aspires to become a sports presenter, an ambition that constantly vexes her awfully screechy mother (Alka Kaushal), keen to marry her off to the next ball-bearing vendor in town. But she has the gentle approval of a father (Kanwaljit Singh), too consumed by newspapers to protest, and a playful, progressive grandmother (Shubha Khote).
Few miles away in Delhi, Saira Khanna’s (Sonakshi Sinha) punkish fashion designer enjoys the unequivocal support of her indulgent big brother, a posh lifestyle across her chic studio apartment, shopping in the hip boutiques of Shahpur Jat and cozying up to a brawny dimwit only to discover he’s cheating on her.
We are told Rajshri’s mum faced a lot of body-shaming in her youth and got married late (at the age of 30) by society’s standards as reasons why she’s so hard on her daughter.
Seeing how lovely and affable her significant other — an evergreen Kanwaljeet Singh — is, her grumbling seems rather unfounded. If anything, Rajshri’s mother should see the futility in her worries.
Instead, Double XL looks at this toxic maternal instinct nonsense as a cue for sentimental reunions.
Meanwhile, Saira is sulking over losing out on her cool UK-born status.
After her father passed away while she was still in school, her mom moved back to India and Saira has bitter memories of making Delhi her new home. The woman breaks into a phony British accent as soon as she’s on phirang turf.
A weepie encounter in the washroom thrusts Rajshri and Saira into reboot mode.
Body-shaming can wait, as the duo embarks on an all-expenses paid trip to London, flanked by a weed-rolling cameraman (Mahat Raghavendra) and Zo Za Zoe babbling master-of-all-trades (Zaheer Iqbal) that marks misfits in all its hashtags and makes shooting a professional fashion reel easier than posting stories on Instagram.
Between shrieky humour, overstated emotions and done-to-death bouts of London tourism, Double XL plods to kickstart the actual discussion behind this exercise.
Obesity, especially triggered by health reasons or hormones, can be a harrowing time for the individual in its grip. But Rajshri and Saira are shown as unapologetic stress-eaters.
They binge on junk food, consciously pile on the kilos, carp about it too yet look perfectly comfortable in their flab and fashionable wardrobe.
Double XL completely sidesteps the health point of view.
There’s credibility in Huma and Sonakshi’s casting as someone familiar with the physical scrutiny first hand.
Both are perfectly confident and capable adults, but have to contend with Director Satram Ramani and Co-writer Mudassar Aziz’s teenybopper treatment where a cricket nerd wears glasses and rattles off score statistics, a fashion rebel sports lip piercing, green highlights, tattoos.
Both, at all times, need romantic inspiration and heroic intervention from cricket legends in dreams and reality, wannabe Shah Rukhs, who’ve watched too much DDLJ and learned the problematic bits, gawky colleagues instructed to speak in an accent straight out of Chennai Express and fairy godmother-ish businessmen (a jet-lagged Jimmy Shergill) to get going.
As always, all roads of Bollywood’s skin-deep activism lead to sobby, self-congratulatory speeches.
Fighting stereotypes with stereotypes? Why not just wait for the third season of Masaba Masaba instead?
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