Tumko Meri Kasam Review

Indian biopics are often not true biopics; they are fictional dramas. Why is that? It's difficult to answer. Maybe drama is inherent to Indian culture, which is why ancient Indian literature is rich in poetry (which is always more dramatic than prose). Prose came much later.

Tumko Meri Kasam is a biopic on IVF specialist Dr Ajay Murdia, the founder of the nationwide chain of fertility clinics Indira IVF. In fact, the doctor himself has produced the movie, with Vikram Bhatt as the director. Sadly, this film has also slipped into the drama category, straying far from reality.

The movie follows two parallel narratives. The first features a young government hospital doctor, Dr Ajay Murdia (Ishwak Singh), who, along with his wife Indira (Adah Sharma), struggles to set up India's first private IVF hospital. The second follows the older and successful Dr Murdia (Anupam Kher), now the chairman of a highly established Indira IVF, as he fights a court case to retain his position and save the hospital.

The script single-handedly drags the movie to its doom. Biopics are meant to be realistic and relatable, but the film falls short, and you'll be confused and disappointed by the way Bhatt has handled the film, and by his priorities.

For example, starting something as new and novel as IVF in India back in the '80s was a daring task, especially for a government hospital doctor who resigned to pursue it. Fully exploring this struggle could have guaranteed a compelling movie. But the film merely glosses over it.

Then, the movie attempts to highlight his compassion for women struggling with infertility, featuring his belief that they shouldn't be blamed for not conceiving as male infertility could be a factor too. But this too gets just a passing mention.

Instead, Dr Murdia's love life gets disproportionate screentime in the first half. And the second half is taken up by a court case in which he is accused of the murder of a driver, by someone he raised from childhood and to whom he had given a 20% share of his company. The courtroom drama is also quite unconvincing - the motivations of the accuser (Rajiv Khosla, played by Meherrzan Mazda) remain unexplored, and the proceedings, arguments and witnesses all feel like elements from formulaic old movies: far from reality, clichéd and dull.

The acting in the movie is however solid. Veterans Anupam Kher and Sushant Singh deliver commendable performances. When the camera focuses on Kher, he fully embodies Dr Murdia, the Chairman of a hospital chain. His mannerisms, dialogue delivery and emotions feel authentic and inspiring.

Singh, as Rajiv's advocate, also delivers a stellar performance, portraying a lawyer willing to go to any lengths to win the case.

Esha Deol, as Murdia's defense lawyer, stands out in the film. This might be the best performance of her career so far. She has often been labelled a product of nepotism (being Dharmendra's daughter), but here she proves her mettle.

Durgesh Kumar, as the government hospital peon, is outstanding. If you're unfamiliar with him, he played Bhushan in the critically acclaimed series Panchayat. His portrayal is utterly endearing.

Technically, the film is well-made overall, except for a rather glaring flaw. In the courtroom scenes, during important arguments and counter-arguments, the people present naturally create noise and commotion. However, in the movie, it appears that the makers have used a stock audio clip and repeated it across all such moments.

In all, Tumko Meri Kasam suffers from a disjointed narrative, and is riddled with inconsistencies and often unbelievable. It is overly fixated on Dr Murdia's love life and court case - had it instead explored the challenges of establishing an IVF facility at the time given the taboo surrounding it, and the struggles of those seeking IVF treatment (the financial burden, the emotional toll and the societal impact), it could have delivered a far more compelling and meaningful story.

Wait for the OTT release - if you bother at all.