Parents' Guide to Wild Wild Punjab

The entire premise of this movie is problematic, and many parts of it reek of misogyny, male entitlement, and male privilege. None of the main characters in Wild Wild Punjab seem like good people, and it's hard to care about these characters. One is an outright "playboy," another only cares about his expensive car, and the third quickly swaps one romantic partner for another. Their friend, meanwhile, really wants and feels entitled to tell off his ex-girlfriend, even though she's already made it very clear she doesn't want to know him anymore. But not taking "no" or "stay away" for an answer, this man decides that he has the right to tell her that he is "over her." His friends then have his back and off they go, seeking out this ex-girlfriend. Clearly, this premise already feels gross, and the rest of the film doesn't feel any less so. By the time the ex-girlfriend is due her "comeuppance," many will feel exhausted (if they make it that far) by the cheerfully misogynistic obliviousness seeping through the writing, the characters, and the narrative. In short, the "world" this film presents feels dated, and it doesn't feel like the film knows it.

This movie overtly wants to be The Hangover (even mentioning the film series by name), but that film didn't exactly age well either, and some felt that the characters in that film were endearing largely because of their oddity, lack of confidence, or boring normality. The main characters in Wild Wild Punjab, however, aren't very likeable, and they don't offer any positive qualities. Why should we care about these not-great individuals? The main friend with the ex-girlfriend is particularly ridiculous (his singular defining trait is "man who is depressed because his girlfriend left him") as their whole mission is because of his entitled idea (also unequivocally supported by his friends) that he should get to accost his ex-girlfriend and make her feel badly about leaving him. Further, he isn't even "over her" and that is the only message he wants to yell at her. What? And finally, given that in the real world, men's reactions to being romantically left or rejected often incite their own violence toward women, many might feel like this film is misguided for choosing this particular feeling of entitlement to base a story on.