Minor Spoilers Ahead;
I watched the most awaited female-centric film of the year, atleast that’s what they said, lol. Thank you for coming this weekend, and ngl they told us what to expect from the film in the trailer itself, but I still wanted to give this film a chance, considering I didn’t hate “Veerey Di Wedding”.
This is not a review; it’s a rant because that’s what the film was. So, where do I start? First of all, the name of the film, Thank You for Coming, or more like “cumming”, is pretty much what the entire film is about.
It’s a sloppy 2-hour long film about a 32 y/o woman who had to kiss too many “frogs” and still doesn’t get the guy but instead learns to keep herself happy by having her first orgasm on her own. The story was an attempt to change the narrative around the fairytales that are sold to us where a prince charming saves our lives n bla bla.
Did the film succeed in changing the narrative? Not really. Thank you for coming felt like a strange version of Julia Robert’s Eat, pray and love. I mean, we get it. We’ve been talking about being happily single for a while now. So, the movie doesn’t really talk about anything fresh. It’s a sad, sad culmination of “empowering female quotes” on Pinterest. What a waste of solid potential, tbh.
The entire cast of Thank You For Coming. Image: IMDB
The filmmakers had solid, pretty women, great money and could’ve actually made this film the real deal of the year, which was fun and one for the books but instead chose to make something so intolerable and nonsensical, to say the least.
Thank you for coming was more of an ‘I’m sorry I came to watch this film in the theatre’ for me.
The film’s theme is essential. We do need Bollywood movies talking about female pleasure for the wider audience. We do need to show that women don’t need saving and have their own happy endings, but when you’re making a film as such, you have the responsibility to make it a film that people are able to connect with.
There’s no single character in Thankyou for coming that you root for or even develop a certain level of connection with. All five characters are just dull. Bhumi, the protagonist, has the best character arc, but she wasn’t the film’s best part. Her mom in the film was. She was the real badass. I would’ve loved to watch her story instead.
Bhumi Pednekar and Shehnaz Gill in Thankyou For Coming. Image- IMDB
Bhumi, aka Kanika Kapoor’s mother in the film, is a single mother who didn’t marry Kanika’s father just because she was pregnant with his child. She raised her daughter independently without giving two damns about the society.
Dolly Singh and Shibani Bedi were Bhumi’s besties and annoying characters with little to offer. Kusha Kapila was in the film for a good 2 minutes playing the supposed “mean girl”. There wasn’t much of Shehnaz Gill either, which is a good thing because after watching her conduct interviews on her podcast, she really shouldn’t be allowed to talk for longer durations. Lol
All in all, Thank for Coming was a film with great potential, but just didn’t do it for me. I went in with a mood for a nice fun film with my girlfriends, but it failed to impress us.
I’d rate the film a rate 4/10, and that too, only because they made a film on female pleasure, which IS IMPORTANT. Apart from that, Karan Boolani’s Thank For Coming is a significant miss for me.