Dr Uday (Ayushmann Khurrana), who reluctantly enrolled in the gynaecology department, is walking the corridors of his college with his colleague Dr Fatima (Rakul Preet Singh).
When Fatima tells her fiance that Uday is in her class, he laughs and asks, "In gynaecology?'
This summarises the main premise of Doctor G, directed by Anubhuti Kashyap. Dr Uday is the lone man in a class full of women, in a stream he believes he can't excel at because his gender puts him at a disadvantage.
To its credit, Doctor G explores how the reason behind Uday's incompetence isn't the fact that he's male but the fact that he refuses to make an effort.
The dialogues, written by Sumit Saxena, are believable for the most part, when not fighting the background score for space. Some of the epiphanies and monologues border on preachy but it's refreshing to see the women doing the preaching.
For a society where people constantly assume ownership of women's right to choice and shame them for asinine reason, how willing would people be to approach a male gynaecologist?
Calling the entire premise unrealistic would be assuming that women across India have the same level of agency, which is categorically untrue.
On the other hand, the film hammers in the point that everyone is absolutely flabbergasted by the concept of a male gynaecologist, which is hardly realistic.
Ayushmann, equipped with an inconsistent accent, plays Uday convincingly. However, the stand-out stars of the film are Shefali Shah as the HOD (Head of Department) Dr Nandini and Sheeba Chaddha as Uday's mother.
As Dr Nandini, Shah uses fabulous restraint in her role, capable of changing the mood of the scene with a simple half-smile.
Chaddha as Lakshmi, on the other hand, is a brilliant comedic actor while also balancing it with her ability to portray complex emotions.
Both their characters are also the most powerful roles in the film – Dr Nandini acts as the film's moral and ethical core while Lakshmi allows for commentary on motherhood and identity.
The rest of the female cast, including Rakul Preet, Shraddha Gautam, Karishma Singh, Anju Gaur, and Puja Sarup, all have roles that have one purpose – to give Uday the lessons he needs to evolve.
While Doctor G's insistence on the male hero journey and posturing isn't as heavyhanded as most Bollywood films, it's still unmistakeable.
Even so, the observations that the film makes are more mature than many. The conversation surrounding abortion in the film is more nuanced than I expected and even though it's rushed, it's never problematic.
Doctor G's entire messaging though, is pretty surface level and the makers trying to tie multiple threads into the screenplay without assigning enough time leaves the audience unravelling yarn. However, I could overlook this facet because of the threads in question.
As someone who has always had a bone to pick with Ayushmann Khurrana films for leaning into the male saviour complex, seeing him play a hero coming to terms with his flaws at a gradual, natural pace was worth the watch.
Rating: 2.5 Quints out of 5
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