Mr Pregnant review: Syed Sohel hard sells this novel idea of male pregnancy that barely excites you

A promising talent, Syed Sohel made inroads from Telugu “Bigg Boss” to the silver screen. He bets big on his latest release Mr Pregnant.

The film harps on a quirky idea of male pregnancy. Let’s see if it has any juice in it:

Synopsis

Gautam (Syed Sohel) is a young talented tattoo artist in his college for whom girls die for. Despite excelling in his creative pursuit of tattooing, Gautam is frequently haunted by his past because of his obscure and lonely childhood.

However, Gautam finds great solace when he meets his companion in college, Mahi (Roopa Koduvayur).

He accepts her love. But for marriage, he has a condition — transfer of pregnancy.

Why is Gautam adamant about taking the labour pains on him? What’s the flashback that made him become Mr  Pregnant is the story.

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Analysis

How can a man get pregnant? Well, Srinivas Vinjanampati toys with a new concept of a man becoming pregnant. Oh, is it even possible?

Yes, the makers try to make the audiences believe with some “Google search results” and took the example of Thomas Beatie, who worked on transgender and sexuality issues in the USA.

Meanwhile, you keep wondering why so much time is wasted showing the protagonist as a do-gooder in the first half. Why does he patch up strained relationships in college?

He rides Triumph just to show he earns good bucks through tattooing. He also thrashes up baddies without reason.

A love duet follows where the poor girl Mahi slips into a fantasy world every time she hears the name “Gautam”.

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Preachy and unconvincing

Toying with the idea itself — male pregnancy — might appeal fancy to anyone. But how well it can be a visual story is a question that not many can answer.

And it looks like director Srinivas Vinjanampati couldn’t answer the question himself properly as the story has blaring gaps from being novel.

It looks like Syed Sohel hard sells the concept of the director to convince audiences sitting in the hall.

The story gets too preachy in the end and concludes with a sermon that why women have to face nine months of torture to give birth to a child!

Mr Pregnant is so dull in the first half. The comedy part of Brahmaji and his wife is the only block where you get some relief from the melodrama and the patience that you showed in the first half.

Srinivas Vinjanampati couldn’t really develop curiosity among audiences about male pregnancy and the issues involved in it.

The story would have worked out well had the filmmaker shown the technicalities that are involved in uterus transplant and the medical challenges involved in it.

#MrPregnant delivery date deggariki ochesindi🫃
Just 3 days to go for the GRAND RELEASE🔥#MrPregnantfromAugust18th💥
Bookings open soon🎟️@RoopaKoduvayur @SVinjanampati @actorbrahmaji @Appireddya @SajjalaRavi @Mic_Movies @GskMedia_PR @VillageGroupe pic.twitter.com/ks3asrCEnn

— Syed Sohel Ryan (@RyanSohel) August 16, 2023

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Performances

Sohel’s performance is partly convincing, but his character has no depth to take the story forward.

Raja Ravindra’s role as a sarcastic father Yatakaram Krishnarao is entertaining in parts.

Viva Harsha’s comedy is not so rib-tickling.

Brahmaji enters in the second half and the comedy is hilarious only for a few minutes.

Suhasini Maniratnam as an expert doctor who encourages Gautam’s wish to become “Mr Pregnant” is okay.

Senior comedian Ali does a cameo.

Roopa Koduvayur does well as the female lead Mahi. The way women usually face struggles post-marriage is shown well.

Shravan Bharadwaj’s background score is okay.

Nizar Shafi’s cinematography is not so extraordinary.

The cut and patchwork of editing is so bland that you get to see such stuff only from amateurs.

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Verdict

Mr Pregnant is a story with an outdated making and a pinch of novelty that barely excites you.

Syed Sohel, who carved a niche for himself through Telugu “Bigg Boss“, has nothing left to do but to hard sell to save his face.

(Views expressed here are personal.)