Khandaani Shafakhana Review: A Film That Has A Bold Intent, But Fails To Engage The Audience

Film: Khandaani Shafakhana

Actors: Sonakshi Sinha, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Nadira Babbar

Director: Shilpi Dasgupta

My Verdict: The Treatment Of The Film Is PATHETIC, Sonakshi Does a Good Job, But Nothing In The Film Holds Water After All

Rated: 1.5 Out of 5 Stars

The film tells the story of Baby Bedi played by Sonakshi Sinha, a resident of a small town in Punjab, who inherits a sex clinic that belonged to her estranged uncle played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Well, the premise of the film and the very idea is very revolting and such a film required some really bold treatment. Unfortunately, it falls flat on that plane!

The fact that any conversation that is remotely related to sex is still a taboo in this country is brought out time and again. It looks even more believable given the fact that the story is set in a small town. Having said that, the way things are said and done is more than just gaunt! Everything seems thin and pale. Nothing is either hard-hitting or even comedic!

Kulbhushan Kharbanda plays a sex clinic operator who is pretty open in his mindset and doesn’t twitch when it comes to talking about sex. For this attitude, he even faces ostracization from society, not that it deters him. Now, when he breathes his last, he bequeaths the infamous sex clinic to Sonakshi! This comes like a ray of sunshine in Sonakshi’s life who is struggling to meet ends meet with her meagre income and her ailing mother played by Nadira Babbar. Nadira’s appearance on the big screen in the film is after eons, but she doesn’t quite have much to do in the film! Comedian Varun Sharma plays Sonakshi’s brother. He is called Bhootshit! And is he repetitive or what?! One look at him and he gives you the same old ‘Choocha’ feel! The main issue with the film is, it actually tries to hard to extract laughter but it fails!

And the cherry on the top is rapper Baadshah! It was a pain to sit through his scenes especially! Why was he even there? He is not an actor, all throughout I was wondering what made the director zero in on him to play the role of Gabru? Just because he is a known face from Punjab, the director might have thought, he would be a good fit! And if indeed this was the case, it was a blunder!

I don’t know about the writing part but his acting surely made me laugh my guts out! Therefore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that if in case the comic streak was missing in the film, Baadshah’s acting will surely not leave any room for disappointment!

Sonakshi Sinha has done a good job, she played her part with conviction but the narrative and the treatment of the film was a big let-down! I could not figure out what did the film actually want to say. Parts of it felt so slow that, I almost dozed off and then in some parts, the scenes felt so haphazard that I could not quite relate one happening with the other! It was so random!

The one scene that indeed was kind of metaphorical was with a girl walking on a tightrope! Well, for us Indians, it is indeed like walking on a tight rope when we have to deal with issues about sex and especially if a girl is in the centre of it all!

Khandaani Shafakhana talks about erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, injuries one could sustain during a rough sex session, all this and much more which is why the idea is surely bold but what did they try to make out of it is the big question! And it remains unanswered!