In the male gaze, Doctor G normalizes the V-word

The Frequent Mention of the word Vagina in the movie

In this movie, the vagina is mentioned frequently and not always for a good reason. The V word will undoubtedly come up in conversation because the film is about gynecologists. I fully understand that. What baffles me is how a woman can intervene on behalf of a man who is suspicious of a woman's physique. Is it OK for a woman to talk casually about the female body in front of a man only to see him wince? This seems to be playing into the hands of sexism.

What causes a man to cross the line from conservatism to liberalism while still acting like a jerk in private?

Rarely do we see a Bollywood movie that goes beyond the damaging effects of the male gaze to examine the problem that has plagued gender relations ever since Adam and Eve fell in love, and there was no Steve to separate them.

Ayushmann Khurrana has become an expert at graduating from the Cad Academy with honors. His persona quickly shifts from being cockily accustomed to all the preconceptions of the alpha male to the other. Anubhati Kashyap's debut film frequently and awkwardly transitions from being overconfident to being overcute. Although occasionally self-defeating in its zeal to point the middle finger at male preconceptions, her vision is refreshingly bold.

I'm not sure exactly when Uday, played by Doctor G. Khurrana, transforms from a sexist, hesitant gynecologist to a dedicated medical professional. The tone-deafness that Dr. Uday is suffering from occasionally bleeds into the story. And rather frequently throughout the first half, groan-inducing conversations about various human orifices are brought up expressly to make the men in the audience uncomfortable in their seats.

Then there's the nurse who tells a woman terrified of getting an injection, "You weren't worried about the enormous injection your husband gave you, yet you are scared of this small injection."

Such a suggestion would be labeled obscene if a man directed it. Anubhuti Kashyap, a skilled director, never lets us forget that she is stepping unabashedly into the territory of the male gaze in her film Doctor G. Why should the fun be limited to men? The single male gynecologist, Uday, is alternately raked around by the female gynecologists.

As part of the ragging, Rakul Preet Singh, who plays a doctor but appears to be an invitee to an all-night mushaira, is told to be spanked by Ayushmann's repressed character. If he accepted her offer, I wonder what would happen. I bring up the religious distinction since the screenplay refers to it. Despite being engaged to marry a Muslim man, she doesn't mind exchanging an unnecessary liplock with her coworker Uday. As Rakul Preet does, we are expected to treat this silly act of infidelity lightly.

The behavioral inconsistencies of Khurrana's Uday quickly start to bother us.

The character Khurrana is portraying now is the most repulsive one thus far. Uday is a sleazy opportunist who seizes every opportunity. But he does eventually change his mind. More interesting than any of the gender-challenging backchat that occupies the front seat in this contemporary parable about the male ego being on the back foot is the movie's last 35 to 40 minutes when he loses his chauvinist plumes to show the sensitive core.

This medical comedy features a funny subplot about a doctor who feels he can't be a gynecologist because he doesn't have a vagina (ha ha).

It involves a young woman (gently portrayed by Ayesha Khaduskar) who has become pregnant. I felt that this violent comedy of womanism lacked some of the elegance and honesty that Khurrana's Uday exhibits in his handling of the girl's unintended pregnancy.

Some of it doesn't work. It was necessary to get deeper into the plot point about Uday being embarrassed by his brassy mother (Sheeba Chaddha, who is always willing to play with mothers who embarrass their kids).

However, I believe that Uday's relationship with Chaddhi (Abhay Chintamani), his tenant, represented a novel approach to the hero-sidekick dynamic that Hindi cinema has been sold on ever since Mehmood and Shammi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar and Johnny Walker forged a bromance that changed the course of cinema.

There are many scenes in Doctor G that are full of untapped emotions. However, the senior doctor, Shefali Shah, must stop rolling her eyes at everyone and everything.

Film critic Subhash K. Jha, located in Patna, has been writing about Bollywood for a long enough time to be well-versed in the business. His Twitter handle is SubhashK Jha.