There were five people who were my hallmates at the 11.25am show of Raksha Bandhan at INOX South City Mall. At the interval, one of them passed the verdict. “Akshay Kumar is always nice. And Aanand L. Rai too. Atrangi Re bhi aachhi thi”.

Hmmmm.

At two hours, Raksha Bandhan is a typical Akshay-Kumar-in-his-Everyman-avatar film, which tries to package a social message with entertainment. He is the voice of many a common man struggling to make ends meet and ensure the happiness of his family, come what may. He plays Lala Kedarnath Agarwal, a chaat shop owner in Chandni Chowk, who has vowed not to tie the knot till he marries off his four sisters. He had promised his dying mother so. Much later we get to know he was adopted from the streets and maybe it was his sense of gratitude that compelled him to keep his promise to a T.

The whole of the first half sees a hapless Akshay Kumar running from pillar to post trying to arrange dowry for his sisters, the only mission in his life. Following a tragedy, Akshay’s Kedara, as he is lovingly called by his fiancee Sapna played by Bhumi Pednekar, decides to invest all the dowry money in educating his sisters. Finally! He himself gets married at 60, with all responsibilities taken care of.

The cause of dowry and deep-rooted patriarchy is at the heart of Raksha Bandhan. Very much a reality in many states in India. While it is great to educate the masses about the evils of dowry, Raksha Bandhan’s tragedy doesn’t really stir you. While you feel bad for the series of events in Kedara’s life, the misty-eye moments do not last for more than a few seconds. Aanand L. Rai probably didn’t want to make it a heavy subject and at the same time drive home the cause, but in an attempt of mass appeal on a feel-good Raksha Bandhan day, he makes it a bit simplistic, never really exploring the emotions a little more.

There are a few cringe moments of body shaming too where Akshay Kumar tells his sister to lose weight for a suitable groom or applies a face pack on his dusky sister. Almost as an apology, the girls are given the voice when they say: ‘I love my body’, and ‘I love my complexion too’.

Bhumi Pednekar has nothing much to do except pining away for Akshay Kumar. A poster girl for all things social, much like Akshay Kumar, Sapna could have been fleshed out a bit more. Yes, she marries whom she wants to marry and marriage really doesn’t have an age, but it all gets lost in melodrama. The scene where her father urges her not to get married beyond her will, will remind you of the Anupam Kher-Pooja Bhatt scene from Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin where he urges her to run away from her wedding. #celluloidgold

Despite sparks of candid acting, no one really is given the scope to shine, be it the sisters played by Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth and Deepika Khanna or Akshay’s sidekick, played by Sahil Mehta. Akshay Kumar hams for the most part. There is an earnestness, however, which is unmissable.

In the day and age when younger stars like Alia Bhatt are plating brilliant content like Darlings, which weaves dark humour and pathos in chilling measure, Raksha Bandhan is neither here or there. Watch it in OTT. And not necessarrily on Raksha Bandhan.

Raksha Bandhan (u/a)

Director: Aanand L Rai

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Smrithi Srikanth, Deepika Khanna

Running time: 110 minutes