One of the best, non-mainstream (except for its songs) portrayal of a well-to-do dysfunctional family, that can be forgiven its mainstream transgressions, because, as a whole, its really holds up to scrutiny.
There are (unintended?) callbacks to 'Fireflies' (more on that below), but mainly Hollywood Indie dysfunctional family-fare like 'Dan in real life', 'Winter Passing' and 'The Family Stone', though it does not reach their heights (or depths, if you're thinking of those movies plumbing thru dark themes).
Content is king, and the makers focus on the narrative rather than the paraphernalia that bollywood often goes for, which makes this a breath of relatively better air.
Make no mistake, its all predictable, a la 'Finding Fanny' (to me, it was a disappointment, since I had expected Adajania to aim higher than his debut masterpiece, 'Being Cyrus'), but gets the overall tone right.
The flick looks and sounds good, with credit to the techs involved.
And I dunno what's it about hill stations and rich dysfunctional families with dramatic pasts that they have to revisit in the course of a movie's running time. Remember Sabal Singh Shekhawat's 'Fireflies'? It trod the same ground, albeit in a darker, less dramatic manner, and man did it look great (my review here - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375666/reviews-1)...
In any case, this is a far superior effort to the writing/directing team's earlier effort, 'Ek main aur Ek tu' (ripped off of 'What happens in Vegas', which wasn't a great source, in the first place). Miles ahead, miles above. No exaggeration.
Performance-wise, the mainstream stars are just about adequate, but have the audience eating outta their fingers, and while seasoned veterans like Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor are fantastic, the revelation, to me, was actor Fawad Khan, who's prolly playing one of the most difficult roles, considering the milieu, and gives one of the most dignified portrayals I've seen to date, no matter which language this has been shot in.
One of the most interesting things though - is how each dramatic beat seems to have been shot like an action sequence, with 2 different dramatic tones in play, 2 different scenarios in play, each reaching its comedic/drama-comedic/dramatic crescendo. This happens about 3 times in the movie, and is not unlike the setting up, and execution of, 3 different action set-pieces, with the intensity being heightened up a notch each time. Fascinating viewing, if you're looking for something like that, or not.
Rishi Kapoor's old guy makeup detracts, the way Kamal's copy of Mrs. Doubtfire did, regardless of the credit heaped on the techs involved, its a 'dry' look, which takes away from the intended effect. RK is a great actor, but if they needed him to look 90, his role could have been cast better, using an actual older actor in his stead. For a movie that seems to take pride in not glossing over the little things, this one was way too big to ignore.
The way certain nouveau topics have been treated in this flick, with one of them being the addressing of p*** (won't reveal the other, since it is integral to the plot), is refreshingly mature, and absolutely empathetic. Something new in a mainstream flick (I did call it Indie, but it is getting a huge mainstream push, courtesy the distributor/s). Very, very welcome.
Though you would not think that if you were forced to play close attention to (all genders involved) the catcalls/hoots/comments coming from universally regressive minds in the multiplex (who'd surely take offense if you went ahead and identified their real selves to them).
Sigh. Nothing's perfect.
The kicker? Some of them brought their kids to watch this (for-sure adult/mature content. Perhaps the jokes' on them, eventually? One can hope.
There are a couple of interestingly woven twists almost right into the final act, which, in spite of being predictable, pack a wallop. Good writing, great enacting.
The (anti)smoking warnings do not detract from the viewing experience (esp. since there are multiple sequences of good ol' smoking, not just ciggies, mind), but that's perhaps because this is a movie that comes from a prestigious production house, which can take the local censor board on, if necessary. Everyone else, esp. non-local movies, will have to display them in a fashion that is intrusive to the art of storytelling. Sigh.
All in all, a flick that's not to be missed at the local cinema, in spite of the predictability, songs and bad make-up.
Now, if only someone can do the dysfunctional family thing in a non well-to-do milieu. Oops. They have. It was also a neo-noir crime cult classic. Titli. Played for 1 week. :-).
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