‘Mere Husband Ki Biwi’ (2025) Movie Review - A Terrific Bhumi Pednekar in a Not-Bad Comedy

Mudassar Aziz's Mere Husband Ki Biwi mainly unfolds like the movie the trailer promised it to be: Lowbrow humor accompanied by cartoon sound effects urging audiences to laugh and smile. Well, to be honest, the cartoonish cues aren't too many. They are, however, replaced by Arjun Kapoor's dead expression, saying, "What the hell is happening?" Kapoor plays Ankur, a divorcee who, five years later, is still tormented by nightmares of his ex-wife. We first see him experiencing another one of those nightmares featuring Prabhsimran (Bhumi Pednekar) - the ex-wife. He gets up feeling breathless and panicky and quickly checks the divorce papers to confirm that he's no longer living with the woman who just tortured him in his dreams. This immediately fuels our curiosity. What could Prabhsimran have done to scar a person like this? In one of the scenes, Ankur compares her to a dinosaur - no, monster - and you wonder if she was abusive (Prabhsimran breaks the TV in front of Ankur and his buddies). So, while Mere Husband Ki Biwi goes through its comedy routine, your mind grows eager for the backstory. Who is Prabhsimran? What was her crime?

The answer comes when Ankur decides to reveal his past to his new lover, Ankita (Rakul Preet Singh). And when the story ends, you are left confused because it's Prabhsimran who should have actually been suffering from nightmarish dreams. Here is a mama's boy who is unable to fully comprehend why her wife decided to leave a gathering of aunties or why it's okay for her to be so busy (he taunts her when they arrive late for a movie). Given the bitterness and incompatibility between the couple, it's actually nice that Prabhsimran decided to abort the baby. Ankur and Prabhsimran were really not ready to start a family. He, of course, remains oblivious to his own flaws, which is why he gets those scary dreams. A better movie would have enlightened Ankur, but Aziz is not the director one calls for complexity. The man who made Dulha Mil Gaya, Happy Bhag Jayegi (and its sequel), Pati Patni Aur Woh, and Khel Khel Mein likes to keep things dumb and (mostly) airy. That's the reason why Ankita, too, not only fails to notice Ankur's mistakes but also never discusses how she wants her life after marriage to be. What would happen if Ankita, like Prabhsimran, were to become too busy professionally? Will Ankur be fine with Ankita if she, too, one day - due to some medical reason - decides to not entertain his mother and her sahelis?

Even after 2 hours and 30 minutes, we don't think that Ankur has changed from within. Still, Mere Husband Ki Biwi concludes with a happy ending (this faux happiness reminds you of Lekar Hum Deewana Dil). A few years later, Ankur and Ankita will find themselves going through the same sad beats. Aziz doesn't concentrate on important topics - crucial conversations never happen between Ankur and his soon-to-be-wife. What's (inadvertently) funny about Mere Husband Ki Biwi is that Ankur emerges as the (sole) victim. This could have been a prickly, fantastic drama about deranged people, but the comedy neuters the sharp edges. And yet, I won't call Mere Husband Ki Biwi terrible or boring. It's a not-bad comedy with a not-bad performance from Arjun Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh (she is less convincing in drama portions, but as a seductress, she works wonderfully). The jokes don't fly as they do in great comedies, but they are functional and okayish, like the song Gori Hai Kalaiyan (lifted from Aaj Ka Arjun and modernized for this film) that comes during the end credits. The movie, unsurprisingly, belongs to Bhumi Pednekar, although she isn't even remotely believable as a journalist (blame Aziz, as he never makes it clear why she loves working in this particular field). I smiled when Prabhsimran inspected a lantern as if it were some alien object. Pednekar is deliciously loony and in perfect sync with the comedy-drama tone of the film. Watching her here, I realized why we fell in love with her 10 years ago when she was similarly busy winning her husband's affection in another romance/drama/comedy. Pednekar is terrific; nothing and nobody comes close to her performance in Mere Husband Ki Biwi.

Final Score- [4.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times