Honest Review: Shilpa Shetty & Abhimanyu Dassani's 'Nikamma' is Underwhelming

Sabbir Khan, the mind behind films like Kambakkht Ishq and Heropanti, is back with Nikamma starring Shilpa Shetty, Abhimanyu Dassani, and Shirley Setia. After watching the trailer, I entered the auditorium with a rather morbid curiosity, similar to what I felt before Attack, actually.

Nikamma is a film about a ‘nikamma’ (useless) man, Adi (Abhimanyu) who makes it his life’s mission to ‘protect’ his sister-in-law Avni (Shilpa) from the villain Vikramjeet (xyz) even though he starts off by hating her for allegedly (and by that I mean, obviously NOT) driving him and his brother apart. Here are some honest thoughts I had while watching the film:

1. Of All Things, Why Middle Class Abbayi?

Yes, Bollywood remakes South Indian films. The South seems to have perfected the formula for mass entertainers so who wouldn’t want a piece of that pie? But why Middle Class Abbayi (MCA)? Even when it released in 2017, MCA was declared to be a mediocre film at best, saved ONLY by Nani and Sai Pallavi’s talent and undeniable chemistry. Why remake it?

2. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Returns

Shirley Setia, who has a wonderful voice by the way, makes her debut with this film. At one point, I did consider that acting might not be her forte but I soon realised that it’s unfair to judge her from this film. Because who, on God’s green earth, can say the line, “Nahi, main love addict hoon,” and pull that off? Shirley genuinely has NO role in the film other than to be a love interest and that is sooo frustrating in 2022.

3. I Woke Up So Early For This

The movie…is so loud. I woke up extremely early to make it to the film (the things I do for work) and I was in no mood to watch everyone yell at each other. If you, even for a second, think that you can look away from the film, nope you can’t. Adi will yell your attention back to the screen. This is not the Abhimanyu of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota because he is so one-tone in this film that I felt…nothing. He is having a complete coming-of-age, hero’s journey…and yet…crickets.

4. Shilpa Shetty as an Action Star When?

To be honest, if you liked Singham or Jai Ho (to each their own), you might like Nikamma. Abhimanyu Dassani is great and believable as an action star (afterall, he does have martial arts training). His form is excellent and that makes the action scenes some of the best scenes in the entire film. Also, Shilpa Shetty has great merit as an actor but damn, there’s some real action star potential there too! As Avni, Shilpa’s is the most captivating performance on-screen for the most part.

5. Kaisa Gunda Banega Re Tu?

The one thing that struck me the most is this: there are multiple goons trying to kill Avni and yet the person who puts her life in the most danger is Adi. There are multiple points in the film where I was like, ‘I don’t exactly know how this works but I’m sure this is not it’. I won’t give anything away (film jaisi bhi ho, spoilers are sacred) but please don’t take any LPG-related advice from this film.

6. A Script Can Truly Make or Break a Film

If I hear the line “Bhabhi (or anyone at all) toh maa jaisi hi hoti hai,” I will run away. Just respect people who clearly deserve it, even if they’re not your family, it’s really not that hard. Also, what kind of logic is ‘I hate you so I’ll kill someone else’? The dialogues in the film made people in the audience laugh at the most (intended) serious moments. And who can blame them, really? Seriously…one line is ‘Usko no ball main run out kardo’...so.

7. Am I the Drama? Am I the Villain?

The characters in the film are mostly so surface level that it’s near impossible to be invested in their lives. At several points in Nikamma, people’s lives were at stake and I wanted to feel bad, I wanted to be worried but I just…wasn’t? And here’s the deal: I’m a huge fan of melodrama– it is extremely easy to sway me with a well-placed echoing dialogue about parivaar or pyaar– so the lack of investment here made me doubt myself!

8. There’s More

If someone met me for the first time and asked me to marry them, I would put the cops on speed dial. Of course, the ‘middle-class struggles’ bit is so superficial but I did not expect ‘eat the rich’ propaganda from Nikamma but hey, the film surprises you sometimes. Also, why is everyone around Adi laughing at him for doing basic chores around the house? Other than being incredibly sexist, it's simply illogical.

All in all, Nikamma is not the worst film I’ve seen in the past month and I might’ve set my expectations too high after having watched Suzhal the same day. So, if you want to watch it, sab apne marzi ke maalik hai. All the best.