Sukhee Movie Review: Shilpa Shetty Delivers Winsome Performance In This Surprising Family Drama

Adm Desk Sep 22, 2023

'How Sukhee Got Her Groove Back' may have been a different title for the T-Series movie Sukhee. Shilpa Shetty plays the title character in the Sonal Joshi-directed Hindi film, who takes a break from her routine to attend her 20-year school reunion. The family drama centers on Sukhee finding happiness again as she finally learns to prioritize her needs after all these years.

The Sukhee narrative is not brand-new. We've seen stories similar to this before in films like English Vinglish and Tumhari Sulu when the typical housewife decides to take care of herself and her formerly self-centered family finally sees her value. Although Sukhee has a support system to assist her in making some crucial decisions, there is also an additional element of strong friendships and sisters in this situation.

Sukhee makes its arguments about marriage, parenthood, and the expectations placed on Indian women to be everything using humor and clichés. Sukhee is secretly suffering at the start of the movie as she cares for everyone else but herself. Her teenage self is depicted in the flashback as a self-assured, carefree young lady; her past self would be horrified at what her future has turned out to be. The movie enables Sukhee to mature in her understanding of what she deserves. In addition, the movie permits other characters to become more self-aware over time, providing more realistic ways to resolve conflicts within families.

Shilpa Shetty has a mini-crisis about the state of her life, but she still manages to be charming and moving throughout the entire movie. She gets to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror just before heading out to see her friends after decades and is horrified to discover how average she has become. She can reclaim former aspects of herself through her small rebellions spread around the feature.

She bonds with Kusha Kapila, Pavleen Gujral, and Dilnaz Irani, and their friendship makes for some extremely humorous scenes in the movie as they attempt to relive their youth. They might wonder who the boring relatives and aunts are as they enter the reunion, for instance.

Additionally, there is a funny parody of the Bridesmaids restroom scene. Amit Sadh makes a guest appearance as an old school friend of Sukhee's who also shows up at the reunion. He also gets along great with the old crew as they reunite after a long absence. As Sukhee's husband Guru and daughter Jassi, Chaitanya Choudhry and Maahi Jain portray stereotypically unsympathetic family members who learn their lesson after her departure.

Even as they set up some commonplace situations like nosy neighbors intruding on family life and Guru mocking Sukhee that she doesn't do anything at home, the script by Radhika Anand and the screenplay by Paulomi Dutta contains some instructive moments. The best parts in the movie are those where Shilpa Shetty's Sukhee regains her former self-assurance and mends old wounds. Sonal Joshi, who is directing her first feature film, did a great job.
The awkward flashback scenes to Shilpa Shetty's college days, where she is visibly de-aged and ill, fall flat. Sukhee grabbing the reins as a jockey in a competitive race is another bizarre scene. These unnecessary scenes might have been prevented.
Sukhee succeeds as a tale of female empowerment in the end, even though the movie subtly mocks it. Sukhee allows its characters to err, learn, forgive, and move on while sticking to stereotypes and elevating them in a way. The film's conclusion may strike a chord with several people who have experienced similar emotions in the past. The enjoyable family drama Sukhee will surprise and delight you.