How far will you go for love? Since time immemorial, stories have flirted with that question. With two men as its lovers, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan now asks the same. It couches its blows in humour, it takes the shield of a large, boisterous, slightly irritating and often unnecessary family.

From the first Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge inspired scene to the last, the "Ja Simran, jee le apni zindagi" dialogue uttered by an equally stern Bauji (patriarch) and an Aashiqui-inspired image of young love thrown in the middle. It's evident what Hitesh Kewalya is doing with what could, perhaps, be the first unabashed same-sex love story in commercial, star-driven Bollywood.

One Word Review... Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan: BOLD. Brave. Gutsy. Fearless. Dares to address Homophobia... Fun, humour, emotions, #SMZS has it all... Kudos Mr Content #AyushmannKhurrana for a courageous decision, #JitendraKumar, #Gajraj, #Neena excel. #SMZSReview

Barring a few exceptions like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Dil Se, and more recently Sairat, love stories in India end exactly the way the audiences want them to, or the way they predict, which can be both a boon and a curse. The other love stories hinge their narratives on nostalgia, reuniting iconic couples on the celluloid to elicit intrigue and interest in the viewers, for instance, Rohit Shetty's Dilwale.

To begin with, let's applaud the fact that Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan exists. For too long, Bollywood has trapped homosexuality in cruel stereotypes. A mainstream movie with an A-list hero playing a gay man without apology or explanation is a cause for celebration. Debutant director Hitesh Kewalya, who has also written the story, tries valiantly to establish that there is little difference between homosexual love and heterosexual love - a same-sex relationship has the same passion, heartache and insecurity.

Kartik (Ayushmann Khurrana) and Aman (Jitendra Kumar) are seen running for a special train 'Vivah Express' as they recite their life story concluding it with "Main bhaag raha hoon" (I'm running). Both are in love but Aman is afraid to come out of the closet. Kartik decides to join Aman and his family for a wedding happening in Allahabad (Sorry Yogi Ji, now Prayagraj).

Bollywood in 2020 is far from being a jannat, orthodox masses still seem to need comedy as a package for a sensitive reality, and at a couple of places, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (Be Extra Wary of Marriage) does make apologetic noises to traditionalists. Still, from a time when audiences were conditioned to assume that songs like 'Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge' (We will not break this friendship) were about platonic male buddies, to today when SMZS is questioning those assumptions, Bollywood has come a long way, baby.

At some point in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, a bewildered mother asks her gay son 'You expect us to reject years of conditioning in a single day?' Writer-turned-director Hitesh Kawalya is determined to achieve the same in less than two hours by mainstreaming same-sex love like few have while roping in an actor known to successfully represent the stigmatised sections of society.

SHUBH MANGAL ZYADA SAAVDHAN is the story of two men in love in Section 377 era. Aman Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar) is the son of Shankar Tripathi (Gajraj Rao) and Sunaina (Neena Gupta), who are based in Allahabad. Aman works in Delhi and unknown to his family, he's a gay and is living in with Kartik (Ayushmann Khurrana). Jitendra's cousin sister Goggle (Maanvi Gagroo) is getting married and Neena calls Aman to come back to attend her marriage.

Smack in the middle of Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Ayushmann Khurana's character Kartik says to his boyfriend's homophobic father that gay people have to fight every day, but there is no fight harder than the one with your family. There is unmistakable dignity in the way that the same-sex relationship at the centre of this film has been treated. When we meet the flamboyantly filmi Kartik and his boyfriend Aman (Jitendra Kumar), they are already in love and living together in Delhi.

Same-sex love, the subject of below-the-radar productions and the object of derision in mainstream cinema, gets the full-canvas treatment in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. Written and directed by Hitesh Kewalya, this rumbustious comedy pushes for accepting the idea that a man can love another and live happily ever after.

A serious subject doesn't need a serious treatment -- a fact that Ayushmann Khurrana's Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan not just understands but revels in. Touted to be a quirky take on same-sex love, the film traces the journey of a gay couple - Aman Tripathi (Jeetendra Kumar) and Kartik Singh (Khurrana) - and their struggle to get acceptance of the Tripathi family.

Why only Jack and Jill, Jack can go with Joe as well to fetch a happy life filled with laughter!!. The biggest USP of Hitesh Kewalya's SHUBH MANGAL ZYADA SAAVDHAN is that the humour is targeted on the people who have a prejudice and the gay couple is shown as 'normal' people in love who take immense pride in their stride as same sex lovers.

A gay rom-com that exhorts its characters - and its audience - to be extra wary (zyada saavdhan) is only acknowledging its own - and Indian society's - ingrained inhibitions about same-sex love. But debutant director Hitesh Kewalya (who scripted Shubh Mangal Saavdhan before being put in independent creative charge of the follow-up) does a reasonable job of aiming sturdy, humour-laced jabs at homophobia while taking care to soften the blows so as not to rattle the public beyond a point.

Salesmen Aman Tripathi (Jitendra Kumar) and Kartik Singh (Ayushmann Khurranna) find love in the capital city of Delhi, where they live in oblivion and their relationship grows and blossoms without being frowned upon. However, problems start to crop up when the two decide to go back to Allahabad and convince Aman's orthodox parents for their approval.