Review of Dry Day: A Boring And Mediocre Social Parody

In a made-up tiny village where everyone is miserable except for a few drifters who are always soaked through the night, a heavy drinker unintentionally starts an anti-alcohol campaign that he can’t stop because of the ladies in his life.
In Dry Day, a dull and unimpressive social satire written and directed by Saurabh Shukla, control is noticeably absent. The movie is not only as boring as a sand, but it also gets lost under a pile of platitudes.

The movie’s purpose is rather obvious. It aims to emphasize the dangers of drunkenness. There is no issue there. What is lacking is how the notion is carried out. The profligacies in the movie Dry Day detract from its purpose.

Jitendra Kumar, the indisputable poster boy of small-town movies and online series, plays the male lead in Dry Day, which is available on Prime Video. He portrays Gannu Kumar, the gullible foot soldier of a politician, whose expectant wife Nirmala (Shriya Pilgaonkar) threatens to abort their child if he does not give up drinking, get in shape, and get a legitimate job that would support a family.

The lady’s command causes a series of events and emotions that derail Dry Day off its intended path. As the pro-prohibition campaign, which starts haphazardly and without direction, draws the whole town into its vortex and threatens the survival of the town’s only liquor shop, Gannu and his friends get themselves into a knot.

Balwant (Shrikant Verma), a politician’s puppet who has an interest in the business of keeping the town’s able-bodied males perpetually inebriated, owns and operates the liquor store.

In Dry Day, the relationship between alcohol and power is made clear, but the writer does not feel the need to develop that aspect of the story. It just briefly develops an argument against political corruption before addressing less important issues.

Jitendra Kumar’s acting career has been based on portraying men overcoming the difficulties of rural India. In Dry Day, the Kota Factory and Panchayat actor is completely at ease. For him, it ought to have been an easy task. However, the writing gives him nothing more than empty platitudes to work with, so all he can sell in this part is hollow platitudes.

The remaining actors do their hardest to breathe life into Dry Day, but Gannu and his group’s pointless meanderings in the face of the apathy of their mentor, the smooth-talking politician Omvir Singh “Dauji” (Annu Kapoor), prevent Dry Day from ever finding a stable, meaningful rhythm.

With Dauji’s approval, Gannu aspires to become the corporator of the Jagodhar ward of Naraoutpura town and show his wife that he is not the wastrel she believes him to be. His political mentor douses his hopes with icy water. He gives Satendra “Satto” Prasad Trivedi (Sunil Palwal) the election ticket.

Leaving the politician’s dirty tricks department on the ground, Gannu and his irate guys decide to take action to recapture the area they have lost. When the villagers inquire about Gannu’s exact goal, he breaks his fast till death, although he is unsure about it.

It’s clear he’s in the proper movie since Dry Day shares his confusion. Gannu’s problems get more severe the more he attempts to argue that he has not been given his fair share. He and the group find themselves with their backs against the wall and their reputation as political activists destroyed when an incident in Delhi lands them in jail.

His selfish yearning and his thoughts don’t lead him to what he really wants. Dry Day’s portrayal of an ignorant man’s dilemma may have been entertaining and harmless if it weren’t for its very crude tactics.

Despite its acceptable sound effects, the movie is a completely meaningless exercise that doesn’t offer any room for creativity. Its sporadic attempts at humor are insufficient to enliven the dull proceedings.

Additionally, Dry Day tries terribly to create some drama. With her kids in tow, one mother leaves her drunken husband behind. Another uses more direct methods to make her inebriated spouse pay for his actions. Naturally, Gannu’s spouse, who happens to be the daughter of the local school principal, lashes out at her errant life partner.

Although the main focus of Dry Day is a group of guys, the ladies end up becoming the town’s unintentional anti-alcohol campaigner. Gannu is caught in his own web, transformed into a messiah over night, and forced to go all out without knowing where the action would lead him.

Inspired by a seasoned anti-corruption activist (who has resemblances to a real-life character from not too distant past), Gannu stages a false movement in Delhi and says to a guy seated next to him, “Naatak hai, enjoy karo.”

Unfortunately, not much of the naatak in Dry Day is pleasurable. The movie is like to a drink that is much too weak to provide any kind of buzz.