Pranav Birje | The News Bulletins
Shashank Arora starrer ‘WingMan : The Universal Irony of Love’ Premieres Exclusively on Lionsgate Play from October 17
Directed by Anuj Gulati and starring Shashank Arora, this Dark comedy captures the humour, heartbreak and contradictions of modern love
In a world that craves connection but fears vulnerability, WingMan : The Universal Irony of Love finds poetry in loneliness. Starring Shashank Arora and directed by Anuj Gulati, the film premieres October 17, exclusively in Hindi on Lionsgate Play. Tracing the chaos, comedy and heartbreak of urban connection, this comedy drama balances tenderness and wit, following a young man’s struggle to make sense of love, intimacy and the weight of his own solitude. With its textured performances, emotional honesty and a score by Tajdar Junaid, WingMan is a portrait of the modern romantic: hopeful, restless and endlessly searching.
At the centre of the story is Omi, a 20-something call centre agent at a dating service whose life unravels after his long-term relationship ends. Desperate to escape loneliness, he begins an impulsive pursuit of a married woman, a decision that pulls him into a spiral of choices that blur the line between comedy and tragedy. Set against the chaos of urban life, WingMan moves between humour and heartbreak, observing the irony of how love can both heal and haunt.
Shashank Arora, who plays Omi in WingMan, on what drew him to the role and how he approached the character said, “When I first read the script, I didn’t see Omi as a character. I saw a mirror. There was something deeply honest in how he stumbles through relationships, searching, pretending, performing, and, at times, breaking. He’s not easy to like, but he’s easy to understand, and that’s what drew me in. Wingman is a film that understands the contradiction of city life, being surrounded by millions yet feeling like you’re stranded on an island. I think many of us have been Omi at some point, caught between what we feel and what we show. What I loved about Anuj’s writing is that it doesn’t try to beautify the discomfort. It sits in it. There’s a rhythm to Omi’s loneliness, and playing him meant surrendering to that rhythm, being awkward, uncertain, sometimes even unkind. WingMan doesn’t offer answers about love; it just holds up a lens and asks you to look. And that’s what made it special for me.”
Writer & Director of WingMan – Anuj Gulati reflects on what inspired the story and what he hopes it evokes in viewers: “I started writing WingMan at a time when I was surrounded by people, and yet most of us were lonely. That contradiction fascinated me. The film grew out of that feeling, the irony that in a hyperconnected world, intimacy can still feel unreachable. For me, WingMan is about that ache, that humour, and that very modern fear of silence. Omi, the protagonist, isn’t extraordinary. He’s every one of us who has been afraid to be alone and, in the process, made mistakes to fill the void. What I hope audiences take away is not just empathy for him, but recognition. That in all our messy attempts to connect, we’re not that different. The film’s comedy, for me, comes from truth, and truth can be uncomfortable, but also deeply human.”
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Official Synopsis: In this black comedy, Omi, a 20-something call centre agent at a dating service, finds his personal life in turmoil when his long-term sweetheart decides to call it quits. In his quest to evade being alone, Omi pursues a married waitress, setting off a chain of events that spiral out of control and culminate in a fateful night that could change his life forever.
Credits:
Director: Anuj Gulati
Cast: Shashank Arora, Trimala Adhikari, Nakul Bhalla, Auritra Ghosh, Kartik Krishnan, Krishna Singh Bisht
Lionsgate Play
Lionsgate Play, a premium streaming service from Lionsgate India and Starz, aims to offer its users a quality of content that is second to none. With a library of premium content, binge-worthy franchises and Premieres, Lionsgate Play looks to stand at the pinnacle of content that is bold, inclusive, provocative, empowering and engaging. The platform brings its viewers a unique viewing experience with a widely distributed network in the region spanning partnerships like Bharti Airtel, Prime Video Channels, Tata Play Binge, Jio FTTH, Apple TV+, Amazon Firestick, OTTplay, Watcho, BSNL, OEMs with an ambitious roadmap ahead. Lionsgate Play app can be downloaded on Google Play Store, Apple app store, and Amazon Firestick at a quarterly and yearly subscription of INR 399 and INR 799, respectively.