Spoilers ahead…
Shakun Batra comes across like someone trying to work his issues out through his movies, the way writers exorcise their demons through stories. Or is it just coincidence that his films – Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, and now, Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921) – are about sons scarred by puppeteering parents? Look at how Harsh (Rajat Kapoor) lashes out when he discovers his younger son Arjun (Sidharth Malhotra) has changed careers… yet again. And look at the mother, Sunita (Ratna Pathak), who qualmlessly steps over one son to help out another. (Fawad Khan’s Rahul completes the family. He’s the older son.) Another common factor between Batra’s two films: the Bollywood spin on Hollywood staples and styles. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu played like a coming-of-age saga guided by the spirit of Wes Anderson. Kapoor & Sons, set in Coonoor, owes a debt to the dysfunctional family drama that gets going when people who live apart are thrown together around an occasion (Home for the Holidays, The Myth of Fingerprints). The cause for this gathering, though, isn’t quite an occasion. It’s that Harsh’s father Amarjeet (Rishi Kapoor) has suffered a heart attack.
Death – or the shadow of it – is all over this deceptively light-footed movie. Amarjeet – let’s call him Dadu, like the grandsons do, for part of the satisfaction of watching families on film is to project our own relations onto the people on screen – likes to play a game where he shoots his grandsons dead. Dadu likes to keep pretending he’s fallen dead. (The film opens with an amusing scene where his face hits the dining table and Sunita, without missing a beat, continues to order the domestic help around.) Dadu talks about where he’d like to be buried. There’s a death scare when a car careens off the road. Another driver, in the same car at a later point, isn’t quite so lucky – it’s a fatal accident. And a lovely scene between Arjun and Tia (Alia Bhatt), a girl whose house Rahul wants to convert into a writer’s retreat, unfolds in a cemetery. Tia’s backstory, too, comes with a couple of corpses. Even inanimate objects show signs of giving way. A car is wrecked. The power goes off. The plumbing cracks.
Yes, I said cracked plumbing – which may make Kapoor & Sons something of a watershed in the history of Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was a dysfunctional family drama too, but the closest we got to the waterworks was whenever Jaya Bachchan appeared on screen. There are no millions here, no mansion. The Kapoors are very middle-class. They discuss electricity bills. Batra teases us with Bollywood clichés and then swerves in other directions. Despite the photogenic threesome at the story’s centre, there’s no love triangle. The mother shows her love for her sons by preparing – you’d better be sitting down for this – not gajar ka halwa but… apple pie. And Rahul’s certainly not the kind of lover boy Shah Rukh used to play, with that name, in Johar’s films. Let’s just say this Rahul can look at a colour chart and point out orange from tangerine. Plus, there’s a lot of weed use, which, come to think of it, may have solved a lot of the issues in the Raichand clan.
This middle-classness, this light flirtation with (and subversion of) Bollywood tropes make Kapoor & Sons a more appealing affair than Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, which, for all its strengths, felt like an English film dubbed in Hindi. Everything was so meticulous, so formally composed (with that signature tracking shot, leading us into and out of places and emotional states), so perfect. Here, even the “perfect bachcha” turns out not so perfect after all in his mother’s eyes. Things are messier, befitting the chaos of familial ties. The signature cinematic device is the constant cross-cutting between two scenes that, typically, would each be staged as a whole. Dadu and grandsons get stoned in a room while, nearby, mother and father try to remember the reasons they’re still on a bed together. Dadu’s card game with old pals turns into a bickering match just as Sunita and Harsh are duking it out elsewhere. This happens over and over, a reminder of not just the messiness of it all, but also the interconnectedness of it all. The fractured filmmaking mirrors these fractured ties.
Kapoor & Sons is exquisitely crafted, beautifully written. When Tia says she’s scared of flying, it sounds, at first, like a throwaway bit, the lead-up to the comedy around Rahul’s fear of mice. When Rahul, after meeting his parents after a long time (he’s London-based), embraces his mother first, we don’t make much of it. But these little moments lead to big emotions. But not too big. The melodrama is muted. It’s in the content but not in the execution. When Dadu is hospitalised at the film’s beginning, Rahul gets the call, and he informs Arjun, who wonders why no one bothered to call him. But when you’re used to being a “runner-up,” as Arjun is, these things cease to sting the way they used to. When an affair is uncovered, we get the storming out, but not the storm – at least not right then, right there. Batra even manufactures laughs from sibling rivalry. “Mom and dad love us both equally,” a stone-faced Rahul tells Arjun. There’s a pause, then they both burst out laughing. It is what it is. How long can you keep moping?
I kept wishing Batra had found a middle path, somewhere between full-blown melodrama and the poised emotional pitch he strives to maintain. (We feel this with Zoya Akhtar’s cinema too, which tries so hard not to succumb to melodrama that many scenes lose their bite.) Recall the James Dean character from East of Eden, a younger brother seething beside a “perfect bachcha” of an older brother, and you’ll see why Arjun’s plight doesn’t affect us as much. I was especially unhappy with a twist that makes Sunita look like one of those monster-mothers from the Tennessee Williams canon – the horrible thing she did (to a son who dreams of becoming a writer, no less, which usually points to lifelong neuroses) is too-quickly brushed under the carpet. As for Rahul, does he feel no guilt about his success when he looks at the failure that is Arjun? In the scene where Arjun and Rahul discuss books, Arjun reveals a preference for “realistic” – that is, sad – endings, something that doesn’t find favour with publishers. But Rahul says, “Isi liye hum khushi kahaaniyon mein dhoondhte hain.” You could turn that line around and get to the core of my problem with this film. We go to dysfunctional family dramas to be reminded of the fact that there are other families like ours, that we aren’t alone in our suffering. It’s a kind of catharsis, and it’s denied when a happy ending is rather painlessly arrived at (or at least, in a manner that doesn’t allow us to feel too much of this pain).
But the performances are so good that I didn’t feel like complaining too much. Ratna Pathak and Rajat Kapoor, unsurprisingly, make us feel this couple who are now together simply because it’s hard to break thirty-five years of habit. And how refreshingly un-movie-like that a night of newfound intimacy doesn’t automatically mean everything’s back to normal. Fawad Khan may well turn out to be one of God’s great jokes on the rest of mankind. He looks like that, and he can act like that? (Movie in-joke alert, but in the interest of fairness, maybe he has a small nose?) Alia Bhatt continues to remind us that she’s the best young actress to come along in a long, long while. She has such excellent screwball rhythms, you want someone to write a full-length comedy around her. She makes us see that Tia is at once damaged and delightful. These others must have rubbed off on Sidharth Malhotra – for the first time, he appears at ease. He still cannot throw convincing tantrums, but I liked him in the scene where he talks to Tia about his issues with Rahul. I liked the tear that runs down his cheek much later, when Rahul makes a confession – reams can be written about the reasons behind that tear. There’s just the faintest trace of resentment, but, again, it’s something time has tempered. Only Rishi Kapoor sticks out. He gets an obsession (sex is to him what shit was to Piku’s Bhaskor da) and some funny scenes, but his shtick feels utterly out of place. He’s a bhangra dancer in a ballet.
More than anything, after a grim few months at the movies, Kapoor & Sons gives us people we want to hang out with. They’re so fun, so fascinating that even when we’re vaguely bored, it’s like sticking around at a party because things are generally so pleasant. The characters, too, spend a lot of time hanging with each other – not falling in love or anything, but just being. They hang at a body-building competition. (I smiled every time I heard the name Boobly.) They hang at a dance floor. My favourite scene was the hanging out at the cemetery. Tia makes a joke about what she’d like for an epitaph, then it’s Arjun’s turn. He improvises quietly: “Aakhri baar likh raha hoon. Ho sake to kahaani yaad rakhna.” Maybe it’s a writer thing, but I teared up at the line. In a movie so filled with death, this aspiration for immortality is profoundly moving.
KEY:
- Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu = see here
- Home for the Holidays = see here
- The Myth of Fingerprints = see here
- Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham = see here
- gajar ka halwa = it’s a Nirupa Roy thing
- East of Eden = see here
- “perfect bachcha” = perfect little boy
- “Isi liye hum khushi kahaaniyon mein dhoondhte hain.” = That’s why we turn to stories for happy endings.
- Piku = see here
- “Aakhri baar likh raha hoon. Ho sake to kahaani yaad rakhna.” = These are the last words. Remember my story if possible.
Copyright ©2016 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
prasunsblog
March 20, 2016
Funny you say that because this movie (at least the first part) reminded me of all those American movies (Elizabethtown, Garden State etc) where the hero returns from the Big City to Small Town, Midwest – with obligatory scenes of running into high school friends, walking into the still preserved childhood room, meeting a crazy mysterious girl.
I thought the movie went full blown Bollywood Melodrama mode as soon as it starts pouring during the photoshoot.
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prasunsblog
March 20, 2016
And it was pretty funny how everyone in Coonoor is north Indian.
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sanjana
March 20, 2016
Fawad Khan. Was he that bad in the film?
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Vanya
March 20, 2016
Spoilers ahead
Hmmm…I responded very differently to this film, maybe because I saw it with my sister, and we easily related to many of the sibling-sibling and sibling-parent dynamics on screen. I thought Batra made the point repeatedly that good moments come along every now and then even for extremely-dysfunctional families. Given that, I didn’t see the ending as a big, cathartic resolution, but simply another brief moment where the family got to take a deep breath together before returning to old ways. There was much too damage done to and by all parties for anything more to be expected at this point. And Arjun’s decision to change the ending of his book underscores his (and I think the writer’s) view that happy endings are only found in fiction, to serve those, like himself, who aren’t afforded them in real life.
Honestly, I was relieved that the movie didn’t end in a neatly tied bow a la Dil dhadakne do. The comment made by the plumber about understanding their unfortunate circumstances and not needing a big payment — that was a reminder that there are people worse off than these middle-class folk who have a tendency to perseverate on inward-facing conversations. This was light years above your standard Akhtar-verse!
Btw, the promotional strategy for this movie seemed calculated to bring in and engage family audiences in a conversation many would not have entered on their own volition. Then the subject matter was presented in a way that would not invite unwanted questions from young children. Nicely done.
Sorry for the long comment but one last thing has to be said: Fawad Khan. That is all.
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P
March 20, 2016
I think I am gonna watch the movie. Thanks for the review…
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moi
March 20, 2016
“the Bollywood spin on Hollywood staples and styles”
“felt like an English film dubbed in Hindi”
Yes…this…a lot of Bollywood movies seems to be doing this these days…This movie in particular from the trailer looks like one of those umpteen number of American movies(or even the lifetime channel movies) that deals with family drama at thanksgiving family gatherings, dysfunctional family members…
My conspiracy theory is that these kind of movies was started by Farhan Akhthar (a great director yes but a good actor?….I don’t think so) and family to make the kind of movies for their ilk….. star kids to act and star in. ….. Movies that doesn’t need the actors to dance or emote much…..Close up shots of the Zoolander esque main actor with their vacuous faces staring into space while the appropriate bgm plays ,telling us what he is thinking.
That is the very reason I keep coming back to watch regional movies to look for stories about local people with local problems, said with local tropes, in the local lingo so that it doesn’t look like a caricature of an American movie….For love stories that are told without lacing it with cynicism(again another template borrowed from Hollywood movies)…..for song and dances , for studio dubbing instead of in sync sound(all of which contributes to the larger than life look and feel of our cinemas).
“Bollywood tropes make Kapoor & Sons a more appealing affair”
This ….steal the plot points from the west all you want but at least bollywoodise the heck out of it so one doesn’t feel like one is watching a pale, watered down imitation of an American drama especially when the original is so easily accessible to everyone…. and Fawad Khan who was so good in that short confrontational scene with his mom in the trailer is what is gonna make me want to watch this movie….
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Vishal
March 20, 2016
Thought it was an exquisitely crafted movie, and I teared up in a couple of places. At the same time, I was surprisingly unmoved at the end of the movie. As a gay man with a brother who has been a bit of a “problem child”, I could see a number of parallels with my own life. So why did I come out feeling that way? I am still trying to figure it out. When I saw Piku, for example, I remember leaving the theater with an ecstatic feeling at having watched a gloriously messy movie, just as real life gets. Maybe what did not work for me was the patness of the screenplay was, each character harboring a lie that all explode in one fell swoop. I too thought that the Rishi character was completely out of sync with the rest of the movie.
That said, I found plenty of things to like, even love. Beginning with Fawad Khan, who simply lives and breathes his character with consummate ease. Even if I did not know about his “secret”, my gaydar would have gone off immediately. He also brings out his innate goodness, his love his parents and his hurt and anger at their betrayals so well. Hats off to him for not only having the courage in taking on such a role, but for playing it with so much subtlety and nuance. And ending with Shakun Batra. In contrast to the heavy-handedness his mentor Karan Johar is in portraying the dramatic moments, Shakun brings a lightness of touch and deftness that make them all the more effective. He also is not afraid to swim against the tide, both in character depiction and in telling his stories. Loves his Ek Main Aur Ek Tu as well, looking forward to more of him!
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Vishal
March 20, 2016
Does anyone else think Alia Bhatt is the Scarlett Johansson of Hindi cinema?
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tonks
March 20, 2016
A school classmate of mine is the production (set) designer for this movie. It’s her first feature film. I’m glad it’s getting positive reviews.
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Avinash Prakash
March 20, 2016
Great Review, still stuck with the Kapoors, a day after watching the film. Beautiful Writing and execution. I grew up in Coonoor and Ooty. Loved the way the shot the film.
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mohanee
March 20, 2016
Between me and you, I’d prefer gajar ka halwa anyway over apple pie. And that is one awful trailer and promotional strategy if the film you talk about is the same as the one being promoted these past weeks (highlighting a supposed off-scree amorous relationship between Alia and Siddharth), and for which you’ve posted this trailer. Just as an aside, could we not have another actress instead of Alia in that role? Competent she might well be, but her constant presence and promotion by her mentor is starting to annoy me, esp when she looks like a 12 year old cast opposite actors who look more like men than boys. Great post, as usual!
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Vasist Das
March 20, 2016
sirji,
Monsoon Wedding meets August: Coonoor Country meets ….. hanji, a slick feel-good movie was had by all, thank you-ji.
mainstream hindi movies release and earn back their investment in most of the 29 states of the country and yet, decade after decade, the majority come in minor variations of one overwhelming flavour: PUNJABI MASALA.
thoddi boring hai-ji.
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sachita
March 20, 2016
ok, I might just catch this movie based on your review and the trailer. And are you saying fawad acted well? I saw one film of his after hearing all the hype and he wasnt good in that very normal chic flick.
Also kunoor hindi reminds of several ooty based 80s/90s hindi movies. Unbeknownst to us, there must be hogwartish hindi speaking regions in these tamil nadu hill stations.
PS: palgova over apple pie anyday, so I dont think Zoya wasnt wrong with Gajar ka alwa.
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badri
March 20, 2016
Not against it, but I didnt understand why they had to bring the gay angle in this movie. He couldve been secretly married to some firang, and that scene wouldve been the exact same way. Guess they needed to bring the ‘Karan’ factor; after all, they made a reference on Karan Arjun !
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Vanya
March 20, 2016
@Vishal: Just wanted to mention that I agree with almost everything you said, and yet I had the opposite problem — I left Piku completely unmoved, but find myself ruminating over several scenes from K&S even two days after leaving the theater. 🙂 For me, Sidharth Malhotra’s mediocre acting skills was the biggest problem here (much like Deepika’s was in Piku). Thankfully, he wasn’t tasked with as much heavy-lifting as the others, but even in the simple, everyday scenes, you can tell he’s learned his lines and is responding at his cues, but he’s incapable of being the role and really engaging with others in the scene. This is made all the more obvious when his scenes are immediately followed by Alia’s and Fawad’s interactions. Props to Alia btw for bringing nuance to a character that veers dangerously close to manic pixie.
Spoiler ahead
This movie was a joy to watch in the theater, which is surprising considering the intense drama unleashed pretty much from the get go. The audience really responded to the funny bits, which was to be expected. But, my favorite moment was the scene where Rahul goes back to get Arjun’s manuscript from his suitcase, and someone in the cinema hall, 2 rows down from us, blurted out “sh*t!”. That kind of resonance always elevates the experience.
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KayKay
March 20, 2016
I’ll definitely check this one out. Love this “dysfunctional family coming around to sort their shit during one fateful event/week/day” in any language. Guess I relate to it based on my own family dynamics which is volatile at the best of times. My parents have always had a “shouty” relationship while my sis and I have never given a flying fig about conveying our opinions to them in the bluntest possible manner.
Hence my disdain for Indian movies that frequently give Parents a Free Pass even when they royally fuck over their kids. An apology, followed by a teary hug, Freeze frame group photo and a “Vanakkam” flashed across the screen. Fuck that. Gimme a Julia Roberts wresting Meryl Streep to the floor any day. Replace them with a Sri Priya/MN Rajam or Nayanthara/Sheela or Deepika/Supriya Pathak or Nazriya/Kaviyoor Ponnamma combo and I’m still down with that shit!
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KayKay
March 20, 2016
“Only Rishi Kapoor sticks out”
B, the “Mischievious and Irascible Grandpa” is as indispensable to this genre as the “One Out of Control/Free spirited Sibling and One Stick-In-The-Ass Straight Arrow Conformist Sibling”.
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KayKay
March 20, 2016
“Does anyone else think Alia Bhatt is the Scarlett Johansson of Hindi cinema?”
Nope, I see her as the Emma Stone/Zooey Deschanel hybrid of Bollywood
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KayKay
March 20, 2016
moi, you made a lot of sense right up to the point you said “for studio dubbing instead of in sync sound”.
Really? You mean you like the fact that every single Tamil Heroine sounds alike because they’re all dubbed by the same person? Where the dialogue is so all-pervasive you need only “hear” the movie to totally get what’s going on?
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brangan
March 20, 2016
Vanya: I didn’t see the ending as a big, cathartic resolution, but simply another brief moment where the family got to take a deep breath together before returning to old ways.
Hmmm… that’s a really good point. I still find the ending a little pat, but I see where you’re coming from.
What really, really bugged me was that Arjun, being a writer, just had that one outburst to what his monster-mom did and then it never came up again. Trust me, NO writer is going to get over this sort of thing without years of tears and therapy 🙂 I mean, she just ripped his innards and threw them to the dogs, and he just has that one outburst. That is a whole effing movie on its own, I’m sorry 🙂
And yes, was totally impressed by Fawad Khan. I quite liked him in Khoobsoorat. (Please promise not to judge me, but I quite liked the movie too 😀 ) But he just owns this film, the subtle way he flips between emotions. I could go on about my favourite acting moments — that scene in Anu’s driveway after he gets down on a hunch and sees his dads’ car and tries to come to terms with the implication; that scene where he asks Arjun what’s wrong (during the photo)…
Vishal: Yes, I too found Piku the more emotionally resonant film. BTW, what tipped your gaydar off? There was that one orange-vs-tangerine moment. Anything before that?
badri: I didnt understand why they had to bring the gay angle in this movie.
One, marrying a firang is so not the same as being gay. Two, I don’t understand what you mean by “bring the gay angle in.” It’s not an angle. It’s who that person is. It’s how his character has been imagined, shaped, written — and so well, and with such dignity, that not once do we hear the word “gay” uttered 🙂
KayKay: Oh, this is one of my favourite sub-genres too. As a kid, my local VCR store had a tape of Ordinary People. I rented it so many times, I wore out the tape. Completely identified with the suicidal teen, and desperately wanted a psychiatrist to talk to. Maybe I should have known right then that, with all this roiling drama inside, I was never going to cut it in a left-brain career? 🙂
Then, when I discovered poetry, I fell hard for this Philip Larkin poem. It’s calmed me so many times, I cannot tell you.
This Be The Verse
They **** you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were ****ed up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
There’s another one from Leaves of Grass, but cannot recall it now. Will see if I can hunt it down.
Hence my disdain for Indian movies that frequently give Parents a Free Pass
Hear, hear! 🙂
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Abhirup
March 20, 2016
Glad you liked it. I think I liked it even more than you did, so allow me to address a few of your complaints.
1) Rahul has no reason to feel any “guilt” about Arjun’s “failure”, because he didn’t know that the plot his mother supplied him with was originally written by Arjun; he learns as much only during the climactic outbursts, and he IS upset by that piece of information. Recall the argument between Arjun and his mother, which ends with him leaving in a huff, and we see Rahul standing in the doorway, and walking away when his mother looks at him. That is a definite indication of him being upset at knowing that the success he has had should have been Arjun’s.
2) I think Rishi Kapoor’s is the best performance in the movie. Among the pleasures in seeing this ensemble pieces are the various sorts of performances, so the fact that Kapoor acts differently from the rest doesn’t necessarily mean that he “sticks out.” Besides, there are all sorts of members in a household, and the boisterous, my-life-is-an-open-book grandfather added some much-needed difference to the household where everybody else is reserved and holding things back (the father about his infidelity, the mother about giving away Arjun’s plot to Rahul, Rahul about his homosexuality, Arjun about his feelings in general).
3) I liked the happy ending. After all that befell the characters (as you have said, the pall of death hangs over even the lighter scenes), that ending is both necessary and appropriate. Maybe I believe, as Rahul does, that providing the happy endings that often elude us is one of the tasks of fiction, or maybe I simply like to see others happy, but I never understood this tendency in some circles to look down upon happy endings. You said that seeing troubled households in movies brings catharsis to those who come from such households, but there are all sorts of catharses. For some, or maybe many, seeing the troubles resolved at the end of the movie makes them feel that someday, their troubles shall end similarly. I know as a matter of fact that the scene where Rahul’s mother begins to accept his homosexuality has been comforting to at least two people I know who have come out recently.
Speaking of homosexuality, somebody here said there was no need for the “gay angle.” Ummm, is it somehow unacceptable that such a charming and likeable person as Rahul, somebody whose gayness comes sans any discernable “gay traits”, can be gay? Homophobia, it seems, is too firmly embedded in some minds. Pity.
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brangan
March 20, 2016
Abhirup: No, no — I didn’t mean the specific guilt around the book, which, of course, he did not know about. I mean the vaguer kind of guilt one feels when one sees a less-successful sibling or cousin or friend — that one has made it and the other hasn’t, that one can afford going to an expensive restaurant without thinking about it while the other can’t. I know not everyone HAS to feel this, but given how perceptive and sensitive Rahul is, I felt it might have been something to address.
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Abhirup
March 20, 2016
Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Rangan. Yeah, maybe Rahul should have felt that way, but given that he has his own troubles to handle–worrying how and when tI reveal his sexual orientation to his parents, the writer’s block he is going through–that it is entirely understandable if he isn’t all that concerned about Arjun’s “failure.” Besides, he does ask Arjun about his progress on his novel, and even offers to speak to some publishers on his behalf. Maybe that’s his way of showing the feelings you think he should have.
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moi
March 21, 2016
KayKay….”Nazriya/Kaviyoor Ponnamma combo”..
Isn’t she the nice ammachi who patiently sat and gave lalettan a head/shoulder massage, while telling him stories, in kireedom ? (what a krooran you are!!)
I just pictured her wrestling Nazriya to the floor, in my head…and it isn’t very pretty….maybe Philomina chechi/nazriya combo instead….
And your family gatherings sounds so much fun….How I wish sometimes I could develop a spine and an attitude and tell all my aunties off….(no, I am not too thin and I did not “sheenichu poyi” , stop trying to force feed me to make me fat , so I can’t get into cute clothes)….instead of just sitting there smiling politely.
About dubbing….I definitely don’t want the same person dubbing for all the actresses….Maybe newer/ different dubbing artistes for different actresses. Chinmayi for Trisha did good in VTV, Nayantara’s voice over in Raja Rani was good….
What do you suggest otherwise for all those north actresses who act in south movies….dub for themselves ? Also, doesn’t dubbing need a certain amount of talent? If all these low pitch voiced actresses started dubbing in their own voices, in their dead pan tone, wouldn’t it take away from their performances?
Sometimes I wish somebody would dub for Deepika Padukone…. Her accent, diction, intonation, projection, tone variation,pitch…. all grates my nerves and I think it stops me from completely getting into her performance….Versus a talented Tabu, in Maqbool, when she goes…” …Paak tha na miya…..hamara ishq?” it was pitch perfect and her dubbing for herself only elevated her performance in that scene…. But actresses like her is a rarity, right?
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moi
March 21, 2016
Vishal….. How like Scarlett Johansson?… personality wise/ acting wise/ look wise?
I thought , off screen, Alia is a desi version of Jennifer Lawrence… funny, chirpy, clumsy with a quirky charm…. self deprecating….endearing, relatable, weird…
But she is not as quick witted as J.Lawrence, of course…. that would be her big sister, Pooja Bhatt …who comes up with more quotable one-liners.
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Vanya
March 21, 2016
@BR: Lol re: Khoobsurat. I sat through that one solely for Fawad Khan. And I’m not ashamed to admit that my primary motivation for watching K&S was the opportunity to see more of him — discovering that he has mad acting chops was a spectacular bonus! (Hey, if the makers decided to go with a ‘Come for the imaginary Sidharth-Alia-Fawad love triangle; stay for the real family drama’ strategy, I can’t be faulted for having less than ideal motives for seeing it.)
Spoilers again…
Re: Arjun’s unresolved feelings, first off, I don’t think RPS was a monster-mom; she made the all too common parenting mistakes of categorizing her children and deciding what was best for them. What she did was unforgivable, but she was already reeling from multiple undeserved punishments (although, it’s not clear if Arjun was aware of all of them). More importantly, given his conversation with Alia’s character at the end, about having lived through her experiences, I think he wasn’t ready to say anything to his mother for fear of losing her unexpectedly too.
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Gabbi
March 21, 2016
I usually push myself away from a movie in which characters parrot out “dude” every second line but was totally sucked into by the Indian-ness of Kapoor family.
Out of the long list of incidents that a family clouded by adulterous relationship undergoes the most critical moment is when the partner is caught red-handed by someone of the younger generation. I saw the movie with my sister and the scene where Rahul catches the glimpse of the wrecked car maybe as old as their family and calls his father up, was too real for us. I just remembered the time when our whole family literally invaded the home of the lady my uncle was having an affair with and the first thing we noticed was his car neatly parked behind presumably the lady’s car just like Rahul’s father.
But there was one major difference and one eerie similarity.
The difference was that my uncle had neatly covered his car with a tarpaulin car cover so that no passerby like Rahul could see a car parked in a home where it was never supposed to be .I had never given a second thought to this precaution taken by my uncle till I saw this scene today where Rajat Kapoor may not have been caught had he taken a leaf out of my uncle’s book.
The eerie similarity was the orientation of the parked car i.e. the front of the car (in the movie’s case, more significant because front of the car makes it easier for Rahul to identify it in a single glance) is towards the front gate rather than the natural position we park a car in a home where the back of the car faces the front gate. My uncle had also parked the car in a similar manner. I may be reading too much into this but I would like to believe that this was a conscious decision by the director to press the point through that Rajat Kapoor could be trusted when he said that he was at Anu’s home for the last time and would have preferred not to see her face while he drives the car in reverse from her home.
Also, the nymphomania-city of Rishi Kapoor cannot be dismissed as a senile behavior so typical of the cinematic old folks. If I am not mistaken, Rishi celebrates his 90th birthday in the present tense of year 2016 while the movie that he claims to have seen 14 times the legendary Ram Teri Ganga Maili, famous more so for the breastfeeding scene rather than shower scene, came out in year 1985 making him 59 years old at that time. This scene would have been the closest Rishi could come to experience porn that time. Maybe, his old age gave him full license for the joyous lewd behavior he craved for all his life.
The only thing I found missing was some overt presence of religion in the movie. Though Ratna Pathak alludes to her Karmas when given a double blow to her maternal and spousal righteousness, I just find the older movies more appreciative though overdramatic at the same time, of the role of divine powers in the trajectory to a happy ending of a family. IMO, no Indian movie that deals with death in subtle ways in a middle class family without acknowledging the Superior Being, Krishna being the favorite of Bollywood. Can this be seen as the newer generation of directors subconsciously dismissive of the effect that religion has on the behavior of people in a general Indian household? Personally, I think so.
The performance that took me by surprise was that of Fawad. It was appropriate that he played the elder brother to another disappointing performance by Siddharth.
In the words of Boobly, I would just say to Fawad “Thanks for coming”
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sanjana
March 21, 2016
This film is really doing well for its genre. Tackling a taboo subject. While real life story Aligarh failed. I think audience need sugarcoated bitter pills.
Alia has another feather in her cap. We have so many talents flourishing in the form of Alia, Sonia, K, Kangana and Deepika in the mainstream.
Khan brigade has one more Khan who is relatively young and charismatic.
Siddharth may become part of multistarrers like Shashi Kapoor.
Multiplexes have never had it so good as of now.
Enjoy until one more Salman Khan movie hits the theatres.
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karrvakarela
March 21, 2016
Just a useless fact: I went to Fawad Khan’s wedding back in the day when he was just a indie rocker in a band called Entity Paradigm. Spent the time eating and hanging out with his dad (our families were friends.) Never bothered to say hi to Fawad.
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Vishal
March 21, 2016
@badri I guess they felt the need to bring in the “gay angle” because there are living, breathing gay people in the world and their stories are worth telling as well? Just a thought.
@Vanya I am surprised to hear that you thought Deepika’s acting skills in Piku were mediocre. To me, she was the soul of the movie, its best performer. Just watch her reaction when Irrfan ticks her father off, you can see her struggling between gratitude (for Irrfan defending her) and embarrassment (to see her father being brutally called out for his selfish behavior). I thought she absolutely nailed Piku. Deepika is a performer who works very well with silences. Another example is from Tamasha, watch her ride to the airport post-coitus with Ranbir’s character. I was reminded of Diane Lane’s famous scene in Unfaithful and I thought DP was just as good. She is still not completely at home with Bollywood’s heavy-duty dialoguebaazi, but she is getting there, imo.
@BR, cannot agree with you more about Ratna’s monster-mother act and its unsatisfactory resolution. That storyline should have been completely avoided. In my personal experience, parents tend to be more protective and try to overcompensate for the more “unfortunate” sibling..rather than being so openly discriminatory. I am not disputing that not all parents are the same but that whole relationship did not work for me, especially since Sidharth’s character seemed likeable enough, if only a little flighty. Would have been more believable if each brother was a slight favorite of/closer to one parent or the other, which more often tends to be the case…
As for Fawad’s character setting my gaydar off, here’s the thing…it wasn’t one, tangible thing but just the way he played it! Watch his slightly defensive body language when his brother mentions girlfriends in London.. for example. His being a bad driver (that part made me LOL) and the orange/tangerine thing were the more obvious tells. I am awestruck by how Fawad managed to play him so instinctively, considering he is a straight guy in real life.
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Vishal
March 21, 2016
@moi She reminded me of Scarlett Johansson because in her younger days, Scarlett used to project this aura that Alia has as well. The “I-know-you-are-trying-to-impress-me-but-I-can-see-right-through-you-but-I-will-play-along-because-I-am-nice-and-I-think-you-are-cute-and-vulnerable” wise beyond her years aura..
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Srinivas
March 21, 2016
As a gay man, the whole gay angle in this movie pissed me off. Theres being subtle and “dignified” as you say above and then there is just pussy footing around it. And this movie took the latter approach imo. Mein sabse alag hoon…mujhe Tia mein kabhi interest nahin thi…mein zindagi bhar ek joot ke saath jee raha hoon….bloody hell, khulla bol na. And that cake cutting scene back in London after all the drama, he will not even hold his bf’s hand, leave alone a kiss?? There was nothing dignified here…
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mymirrorshadow
March 21, 2016
HI Mr Rangan. I loved the movie, watched it with my parents and all of us were in tears. In fact, in a couple of places, when Fawad’s character hinted at his orientation, some people in the audience were laughing. I was like, do you even understand what this guy is going through? It’s a beautiful movie…so perceptive, so real…
Looking back and reading your amazing essay, I understand when you say that the betrayal by Ratna’s character was not completely explored. To an extent, many of the issues such as the adultery, the sexual orientation thing, etc were not fully explored. But I felt comfortable with what was included. This made the movie real for me. In fact, following all the threads to a logical/emotional conclusion everything might have made it neat and false. Like someone mentioned, the ending was more of a truce rather than closure (although leaning more towards a closure).
On a side note, I cannot thank you enough Mr Rangan. I started reading you since 2008. I always make it a point to read your critiques, whether I may agree with them or not. I have learned a lot of English reading you and keep on recommending your name to my students (I teach English).
Thank you so much for everything, and please continue writing 🙂
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Abhirup
March 21, 2016
Also, Mr. Rangan, consider this: you may be absolutely right that no writer can rapidly get over what Arjun’s mother did to him, but remember that that revelation is only one of the many mishaps that befell him that day. Besides that, he also had to deal with his father’s death, the news about his father’s infidelity, and the knowledge that the woman he has fallen in love with has kissed his brother–the very brother to whom he has been a lifelong “second best”, and who now seems to have beaten him again. In the midst of so many undesirable occurrences, it is understandable, I think, if he doesn’t dwell on any one and instead decides to put it all behind him. If it had been only that one piece of information about his mother giving away his plot to Rahul that he had to deal with, maybe he would have undergone the years of therapy and tears you mentioned. Given that he had to deal with so much more, it is not all that unbelievable that he shall behave differently.
Thanks, by the way, for saying what you said about the portrayal of Rahul’s homosexuality in the movie. Subtle and dignified indeed, and still making it amply clear which side of the fence belongs to. Utterances like “I am gay” and “I like guys” are hardly necessary when the portrayal is this beautiful. Besides, given how his mother responded to the knowledge that he is gay, one can understand entirely his hesitation in being pride parade explicit about him being gay.
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B.H.Harsh
March 21, 2016
Rangan sir: I am really glad you spared some words for Ms. Bhatt (even majority of the other reliable critics ignored her) – I thought her comic timing was fabulous!
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Rahul
March 21, 2016
@ Srinivas, you angst is not about the character played by Fawad Khan. It is your perception on how all gay people should act. Very different things, in my opinion.
Unfortunately there are gay people in the world, who are struggling with who they are because the world will not understand them.
Cheers,
Rahul
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sanjana
March 21, 2016
What a movie! What a review! Must see once more. Must read again and again.
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B.H.Harsh
March 21, 2016
Also, all those who have been dissecting Fawad’s character-graph in the comment sections, please do remember to put a HUGE SPOILER ALERT BOARD at the very top henceforth..
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Aditya (Gradwolf)
March 21, 2016
Throwing my hat in for the Khoobsurat love. That was one nicely done film. And aptly produced by Disney.
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Srinivas
March 21, 2016
@Rahul – my angst is about the fact that in 2016, a major movie with a major character cannot even acknowledge the word “gay” or anything even remotely same sex. Even in a conversation between the supposedly gay character and his younger brother.
Sorry – Harsh..but the cat is out of the bag now. 🙂
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Vanya
March 21, 2016
@Vishal: I’ll be quick because I recognize I’m in a tiny minority when it comes to Piku, and besides, I don’t want to derail this thread. I didn’t feel Deepika brought anything extra to the table or accomplished anything another actress wouldn’t have with the same script+direction. Someone like Tabu or an older Parineeti or pre-Dileep Manju Warrier would have killed it. Besides, something about the beats in the dialogue didn’t work for me (from everyone, not just Deepika) — I was constantly aware that I was watching a movie; actually, it felt more like I was watching a play.
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Abhirup
March 21, 2016
In both the shows that I attended, the revelation of Rahul’s homosexuality was greeted with sniggers and slurs. Much the same happened during ‘Aligarh’. I can understand it, therefore, if the movie didn’t use “gay” or “homosexual”; it’s not a nice experience to be on the receiving end of those sniggers. I am glad, though, that in spite of not using those terms, the movie made it SO VERY CLEAR that he is gay. I doubt anyone shall leave the hall thinking he is heterosexual. So, they accomplished what they had set out to do; namely, give us a main character who is gay in a mainstream, big budget movie. If they did so by refraining from using some specific terms, that’s fine; what matters is the definiteness of the portrayal.
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Utkal
March 21, 2016
“…my angst is about the fact that in 2016, a major movie with a major character cannot even acknowledge the word “gay” or anything even remotely same sex. Even in a conversation between the supposedly gay character and his younger brother.” It is precisely because it is 2026 that the word ‘ gay’ is not uttered. Rajat Kapoor was havung an affaor with Anu. Does the word ‘ affair’ get to be uttered? Only ina dumb movie would I expect an obvous line like ” Mom, I am gay!” Or ‘ Beta to gay hai?” Or perhps a song like ‘ Gay , gay gay, gay …gaye re sahiba’ .
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Vishal
March 21, 2016
@Srinivas, I too was wondering about this. I feel that this decision was probably driven by commercial considerations. In fact, I had a friend of mine call me and ask me, who told you Fawad is gay in the movie? A straight friend of mine watched it and said he wasn’t!! LOL
But despite this, we have come a long way and I will derive comfort from that. For now.
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Utkal
March 21, 2016
KAPOOR & SONS
It is like sitting by the sea on the sands, watching the waves roll by
Like seeing your family at the airport gate as you wave them goodbye
Like watching a sunset in winter as the sky slowly fills up with red
Like holding back your tears when someone in the family is dead
Like a single tear burning your skin as it rolls down your cheek
Like someone telling you her entire life without trying to speak
Like watching the first rains as big fat drops fall to the ground
Like seeing a close friend suffer and have a nervous breakdown
Like life itself and its quirky ways, not knowing what it has in store
It is like this and that film they say it is like, but also so much more.
Why the attempt at poetry? Because it is such a poetic film. And a prosaic response would be an insult to the film. I haven’t been so emotionally moved by a Hindi film in years. Director Shakun Batra who co-wrote the film with Ayesha DeVitre sucks you into the world of the Kapoors and takes you close to every character. You become a fellow-rider of the rollercoaster ride of their life together. You feel every moment of their joy, hope, grief, disappointment, affection, envy, resentment, trust, betrayal, concern, anger and acceptance.
It brings to mind Tostoy’s famous opening line of Anna Karenina : “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Except that it is hard to say whether the family is really happy or unhappy. Come to think of it, which family is totally happy, or unhappy? the film seems to ask. Every family has some hopes fulfilled some not fulfilled, every family has moments that seem so happy when recollected but they seem to have flown by; every family has someone who feels not as loved as he or should ought to have been; there are heartbreaks, there are hidden secrets that get revealed – not always at the most appropriate moments, and yes death, there is always death.
To read the rest: http://utkaleidoscope.com/kapoor-sons/
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Nee
March 21, 2016
So will weigh in on my opinions (when has not having watched the movie proved a hinderance)
” I was especially unhappy with a twist that makes Sunita look like one of those monster-mothers from the Tennessee Williams canon – the horrible thing she did (to a son who dreams of becoming a writer, no less, which usually points to lifelong neuroses) is too-quickly brushed under the carpet”,
In the parent-child (angst) relationships, joy luck club comes to mind. The mother is so mean and pushy (kay-kay if you think desi parents are ‘bad’ you should look at neighboring country and all of a sudden ours look benign and even nice) but when we come towards the end of the story, when we see mother’s back story and her reasoning, we are reduced to a sobbing mess (catharsis); even the seemingly worst villain has something that redeems him/her otherwise what joy in watching something black and white, good and evil, unless, when veil of subjectivity is removed, it is something altogether different (I watched Rashomon recently again).
“We go to dysfunctional family dramas to be reminded of the fact that there are other families like ours, that we aren’t alone in our suffering”,
—>I would rather say that the movies actually help us “see” because we can never be objective of what we experience in our life (evil parents/neighbors/society). Which is why we also go to therapist because she/he does the same thing. Inject objectivity. If we were to see the ‘same’ thing (evil parents) then sure we can identify with the movie but it won’t lead us to any resolution (that we are so desperately seeking without knowing that to be the case).
P.S. I can only handle so many skeltons in a day. Seems like a lot of deliberate Freudian slips in the comment section for this movie
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Snehal
March 21, 2016
What a lovely movie and a lovely review.
Thanks for linking Tia’s fear of flying comment to her past, I completely missed that.
I loved the songs too, even the party one – Kar Gayi Chul. It really unfolded like a real party. Unlike some micro-choreographed party songs. This was the right mix of chaos and steps.
Did Fawad Khan’s accent bother anyone? For having parents that sounded so cosmopolitan in the movie, it was a bit jarring. His performance was awsome inspite of it though.
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Srinivas
March 21, 2016
@Utkal..dude…relax…take a deep breath
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nellaivel (@vel1972)
March 22, 2016
Yesterday i happen to watch the film. I do not how many of them noted it, incidentally the film happens in Connor in TN, vehicle they use is having TN registration and even show name board in English and Tamil but all the characters spoke in hindi even the plumber & nurses in the hospital speak hindi which i find very odd. IMO even though film is good i think some nativity is lost in the film. Probably if the film would happen in town in north like nanital or shimla it would have not lost its nativity.
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Julie
March 22, 2016
I agree to Nellaivel comment. What was the point of having coonoor as a backdrop ? It could have been any small hillstation in north india.
My favourite part was the surprise element in Fawads character. I thought it was tastefully done. Love Rathna Pathak Shah’s reaction upon finding out and the slow warming up to the idea.
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Anuj
March 23, 2016
Finally Hindi cinema has a rare, mature coming of age family drama. Neither is it as melodramatic as the Barjatya/Johar nonsense and nor is it as mushy,silly and bratty as Zoya Akhtar films. My review :
http://thesimplemoviereviewer.blogspot.in/2016/03/kapoor-sons-review-mature-coming-of-age.html
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Snehnath Neendoor (@snehnath)
March 23, 2016
Nellaivel and Julie, it also be that because Rishi Kapoor’s character is ex-army, and Coonoor is quite close to Wellington, which is a cantonment, and has a Defence Staff Services College. He may have chosen to retire there. It wasn’t such a big deal for me.
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Utkal
March 23, 2016
I do not know why so much fuss is being made of Connoor as a location. Choosing Connor might have been a logistic decision. The characters obvioulsy were written as Punjabis. THey could have chosen to call Cannoor as someplace else, that wpud have ben a blatant lie. They chose to let it saty Connoor. And as Snehnath says there is nothing particularly impossible about a Punju family settliing in Connoor and another Punju family owning a Bungalow there.
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sanjana
March 23, 2016
The majority of viewers are hindi speaking and thus they wont mind Coonoor location. For them it will be an exotic hill station brimming with hindi speaking people everywhere! For native people, it will be like invasion of aliens!
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the brangan fan
March 23, 2016
u said in your review of humpty sharma ki dulhania that as long as alia bhatt stays away from the khans it is good…. and now she’s doing a film with srk!
won’t they leave atleast one heroine free?
curse of the khans!
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Saurabh
March 23, 2016
Really enjoyed the movie.
My only minor gripe is that the escalation that happens in the end with everyone having a major secret etc culminating in the death of Rajat Kapoor’s character felt a tad bit too “setup-y”. Rishi Kapoor’s character goes a little overboard sometimes. Dint enjoy the party scene where Alia and Arjun meet (was done in a rather cliched/banal way).
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Flickside
March 24, 2016
You are the one of the most fair, unbiased reviewers out there. And I love your insights and the observations you draw, some of which I may have missed while watching the film. We pretty much agreed on this one (except Rishi Kapoor who I thought deserved more credit).
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Santa
March 24, 2016
This is completely off topic, but I have a question for Mr. Rangan. It’s been quite a while since you published a review of a Hollywood movie. Any particular reason?
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Rahul
March 24, 2016
You are the one of the most fair, unbiased reviewers out there..
If I know BR well, he might take this as an insult.
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tonks
March 24, 2016
The person I watched the movie with did not get the gay plot twist even after the scene where the mother sees the chat window and the pictures on the lap top. She was surprised when I explained things to her (when I sensed she was clueless). Perhaps Indian (Bollywood) audiences are not very tuned to subtlety :). And as Vanya said the subtlety is probably partly due to this the subject matter was presented in a way that would not invite unwanted questions from young children. Nicely done
Also off topic, but while I enjoyed Piku, like Vanya, it left me emotionally untouched and I felt there was a bit of over-dramatisation. I totally agree with what Vanya said I was constantly aware that I was watching a movie; actually, it felt more like I was watching a play. Funnily enough though , I rather liked Rishi Kapoor’s portrayal of the whacko grandfather and didn’t feel it stuck out.
And loved Alia’s performance, especially in the scene where she speaks about her parents’ death.
It’s so good to see a movie that treats homosexualty as a natural state, gay people as normal and finally shows acceptance by the mother. I hope this helps a little bit in changing prejudiced mind sets and eventually our regressive laws.
Sachita said : Unbeknownst to us, there must be hogwartish hindi speaking regions in these tamil nadu hill stations
Hilarious 😀 I think the only Tamil I noticed was in the restaurant they go to amongst two members of the kitchen staff and even that had a North Indian accent.
He looks like that, and he can act like that? (Movie in-joke alert, but in the interest of fairness, maybe he has a small nose?)
Liked this bit of the review best 😀
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sanjana
March 24, 2016
I loved Bajirao Mastani more than Piku. I prefer Deepika all decked up lovingly as in BM. In Piku, she looked like any ordinary Bangaluru girl. And the director stretched the subject. Beyond a point it became caricaturish.
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P
March 25, 2016
After seeing this comment section I am almost afraid to watch it. I thought it was a fun family get together sort of film, but this seems to be a completely different creature altogether. Jesus.
Sanjana: Agreed. Also Bajirao Mastani has super repeat value, I keep finding more and more obscure theatres to watch it in, Piku despite owning it on iTunes have watched it only once.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
March 25, 2016
Agree heartily with Flickside on Rishi Kapoor not getting his fair share of the credit. actually that pretty much sums up his entire career. He’s roly poly – he doesnt have beefcake and yet he’s survived so long and how ! His performance in Sargam as the Dafliwaala is amazing. He really seems to know how to play that darned instrument !
https://thezolazone.wordpress.com/2016/03/25/thagudu-thagudu-the-kaakki-chattai-chronicles-part-iii/
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Utkal
March 26, 2016
Deepika in her ordinary clothes in Piku was far more intesrsting, sensual and sexy than in all those fine clothes and jewellery in Bajirao Mastani where she mouthed some cliched dilaogues, that too very badly, mispronouncing half the words. Priyanka was far more fiery and engaging in the film.
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windwillcarryus
March 26, 2016
what about the sexist jokes of the grandfather? no one is talking about it.
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Pankaj Sachdeva
March 26, 2016
Beautiful review, sir, as always 🙂
I loved Fawad Khan. Isn’t it befitting that Rahul—the lead character and the poster lover boy of many a staple romantic movie, from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham—plays another role of lover boy, but this time, he is in a relationship with another man. If Rahul can romance all the ladies, it is only natural, that Rahul can love a man. None of the three reigning Khans, who can make the entire film industry dance to their tunes, or, for that matter, any mainstream actor, has done a role of a homosexual, but as if it is some kind of a poetic justice, that another reigning Khan, from a supposedly conservative country, does a role, such as this one, with such confidence and aplomb.
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sanjana
March 26, 2016
I did not watch Deepika for her dialogues. I watched her for her ethereal beauty, regal splendour and her dance moves which were graceful like a peacock dancing. She looked like a beautiful painting.
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Janaki
March 27, 2016
A flaw in an otherwise well written film- Rishi Kapoor’s health costs cannot be a burden on the family. Being a retired army person his medical treatment would be fully covered by the Army. Doesn’t mean that they could not have financial issues- just that the whole dynamic with the richer NRI brother would be different.
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janvats
March 27, 2016
https://janvats.wordpress.com/2016/03/27/kapoor-sons-kaleidoscope-of-emotions/
my take on the movie. Loved the way it was subtle and not loud.or crass
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Ali T.
March 28, 2016
A ridiculous movie about a senior grand pap. More of a drama rather than a motion picture. Fawad character at times felt disgusting. Movie has a decent story line though a stale one but over acting of certain characters cheapens the screenplay. Rishi Kapoor as always has proved to be a versatile and competent capable of delivering roles flawlessly. Overall an average movie but spoiled by nature and trait of K. Johar.
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Swaroop Kodur
March 28, 2016
It’s a nice movie with its heart at the right place. However, contrary to what you’ve written, I feel the writing could’ve been way better. The scenes with the family have been written beautifully but otherwise you’re constantly reminded that it’s Karan Johar’s production and highly essential to play the movie to the galleries. Nothing wrong with that. But I, at times, questioned the maturity behind the idea and it’s execution. Rishi Kapoor is very good and so is Ratna Pathak. Fawad Khan, as you mentioned, is a dream catch for Bollywood. The rest feel a little too deliberate. Alia Bhatt seems like comic relief beyond a point and Rajat Kapoor too one dimensional in his performance. There isn’t a soul backing. Siddharth Malhotra has a long way ahead. He had two main scenes and hammed the second one.
The writing had to be smarter. The breakfast scene between Rajat Kapoor and Fawad Khan had too much information. You get the sense the characters are talking to the audience outside and not really to each other. The film also feels a little too glossy. The characters are too well dressed for the occasion and lack considerable authenticity. For instance, the sons are brought up in Coonoor but do not speak any Tamil. I think it’s about time our movies employ small nuances.
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Utkal
March 28, 2016
Make the Most Of Your Trip to Gold Coast (Tourism Australia)
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It hasn’t been declared an unqualified hit by the trade so far, but discerning audiences have given a unanimous verdict: Kapoor & Sons is a must-watch. I went on a Sunday evening (first weekend) expecting a heart-warming, happy “aren’t we gorgeous” flick that makes one believe – at least for a few hours – that it’s all about loving your family. Hell, it isn’t! Definitely, not in this movie. I came home feeling disturbed and a little cross. I had paid for a chocolate eclair. What I got instead was a bitter almond. Am I complaining? Nope. I’m saying “Bravo!”
Aren’t we all sick to death of feel-good, gooey, mushy family sagas that end on a great note? I am. Then along came this movie which uses so much cinematic stealth to creep up on you…you are ready to run, but it’s too late. You are helplessly caught in the thick of an emotional wringer.
Both my grandfathers were dead when I was born, so I felt somewhat cheated not having known one like Rishi Kapoor. Yes, he is the show-stealer for most viewers – without him as the central peg, there would be little to keep the story going. This is one grandpa who will stay with us for a while. Not because he is benign and generous and loveable and wise. Oh no. He is anything but! And with that as a starting point, everything else falls into place. Here’s a 90-year-old grandpa who watches porn on his grandson’s iPad (which he calls an “i-papad”), smokes up when he’s in the mood, gets a face pack to improve his looks, makes nasty sexist remarks about the nurse taking care of him in hospital, cheats at cards during his birthday party, lusts after a drenched Mandakini clad in a diaphanous white saree (self-referential – but what the hell), and cracks the most sadela, offensive potty jokes. Phir bhi, the audience roars its approval each time Rishi Kapoor is on the screen. Have Indians changed their ideal of a darling Daadu, who distributes laddoos to bratty grand-kids, and generally carries on like Santa Claus well after X’mas is over? Certainly looks like it…
http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/kapoor-and-sons-the-r-factor-its-not-just-rishi-1291273?pfrom=home-lateststories
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sanjana
March 29, 2016
‘ For instance, the sons are brought up in Coonoor but do not speak any Tamil. I think it’s about time our movies employ small nuances.’
In Bengaluru, many kids and their parents dont talk in Kannada. They talk in their mother tongue. Same is the case in Mumbai and other states. And the family is punjabi, not tamilian or malayalee.
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arielsomebody
March 31, 2016
Haven’t seen this movie, but personal gripe. i always feel like karan johar is trying to mainstream gayness in all his movies and only when he feels the audience is softened enough, he’ll come out openly.
This always irritated me. Come out publicly already man. Have some guts.So many gay people with less power and influence than you have. Be a role model. Instead he gives out the message that even a successful, rich, powerful influential guy like him has to stay closeted. Dude can’t expect everything in his life to be easy and served on a silver platter.
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Utkal
April 1, 2016
arielsomebody: “..feel like karan johar is trying to mainstream gayness”
Hardly in 4 films out of perhaps 20 films he has produced. And dont you think it is much more difficult for successful, rich, powerful influential guys to come out, because they have so much more at stake? How many politicians, industrialists or film stars have come out in the open?
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arielsomebody
April 2, 2016
Utkal:
And dont you think it is much more difficult for successful, rich, powerful influential guys to come out, because they have so much more at stake?
That would be the case if gay people were being lynched in india, as in the US (despite the law making it legal to marry), or if the opposition to them being gay hinged primarily on something more sinister than family pressure to reproduce and have a conventional family with grandchildren (like some islamic or christian death-sentence)
In the entertainment industry of all places, as a director, not even as a lead actor who may be afraid of losing his female fan following, he has basically NOTHING to lose and everything to gain- he would be lauded for his ‘courage’ in ‘speaking out’ and being a role model blah blah.
This is like a woman saying in 2016 – ‘it is very difficult for me as a woman in a country like india to study after class 12, and pursue a career, especially in a field as unconventional as engineering’
That would sound particularly stupid when there are so many people doing just that, family pressure notwithstanding.
Just off the top of my head, Nari Hira, Vikram Seth, devdutt pattnaik,rohit bal, Onir, manish arora,prince manvendra singh gohil, several of my friends and many many others in the public eye are openly gay- many of these with more to lose than silly karan johar for god’s sake.
It is the incongruousness of the obviously gay johar who insists on not admitting it, seemingly waiting for a more ‘progressive’ time until every single person in the country and their grandmother are on board with him that’s irritating- that’s never going to happen, to any one on any issue, in any time.
so basically yeah, i’m calling Loser on him.
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tonks
April 2, 2016
And that, in a country where the law of the land is still regressive enough to put you to jail for something which you cannot help being (and which is as much a wiring of the brain as say, being left handed or good in Mathematics is)
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Altman
April 2, 2016
@arielsomebody I don’t know which country you are talking about but let me assure you, in India a girl aspiring to pursue engineering and a guy coming out as gay is not the same thing.
Many still don’t understand a person is entitled to his/her own sexual preferences, let alone the problems of LGBT community. Even my English professor who has a PhD termed it as “western disease.” Those names you have mentioned are not on par with Karan Johar’s league of popularity. A lay man may not know about Vikram Seth and what he has written but it’s not the same with Johar. His name is his brand and he has an image to keep up in a mostly patriarchal industry.
What do you think will happen if he comes out as gay? All hell will break loose. Religious factions would call for ban on his movies saying he’s acting against the Indian culture, some baba may say he can cure him by yoga, twitter trolls would make gay jokes all day, news channels would do a prime time debate about it, every bollywood celeb would be asked to comment on it, some may say he is setting a bad example for youngsters, and the government well they would maintain silence as usual. So yeah it’s a big deal for someone like him to come out of the closet.
As much as I wish we don’t make a big fuss out of something intensely personal and intimate as this, we do. As tonks pointed out, there isn’t any law to protect the rights of LGBT community here like they have in the US. Even the cops can harass them. I’m reminded of the climax of Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger personifies the angst and frustrations of millions of suppressed people in that iconic scene.
So call him whatever you want but you will never be able to understand his predicament, neither would I.
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arielsomebody
April 2, 2016
@ALtman: i respectfully disagree. Even in the US where there are laws to protect gay people, they get harassed much more than in India, especially in the more conservative states.
The wrath of an orthodox Christian community for gay people is very different from people in India calling it a western disease. Please come to the US to experience it.
Respectfully disagree with everything else in your post as well,about Vikram Seth having less to lose, and what would happen if Karan Johar came out. He is already out for all practial purposes. He would be lauded for ‘speaking out’. He already has a history of hits, he owns his own production company, he has plenty of money, his stars are not going to stop working with him. Nothing significant will change for him. As i said above, he can’t expect everything in his life to be easy and served on a silver platter. If he’s going to hold out for universal popularity, he’s always going to be disappointed. Twitter trolls are going to make jokes about him? really? they already do that about his hilarious movies which have served as memes for ridiculousness.
Director Onir is also openly gay. The list can go on, but clearly you’re convinced that KJO is special in some way.
Also saying that Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has less to lose than KJo is just ignorant.
The illustration of a woman trying to study and a person coming out was made because you can make both into huge roadblocks and complain about them and be justified, but you don’t need to. There are people who have overcome both.
Therefore i have sound reasons for holding my personal opinion, and i believe i’m entitled to it.
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Abhirup
April 3, 2016
I absolutely understand Karan Johar’s (or for that matter, that of anyone living in India) decision to not come out. For every ‘out’Indian, there are at least ten who are closeted, and for good reason. In the past six years, three people I personally know have committed suicide after coming out. All three of them were thrown out of their houses, were harassed at their offices (or, in case of one of them, at school) for being gay, and the school student was almost raped by a group of his seniors, against whom the school authorities took no step, because they couldn’t comprehend how a guy can possibly be raped. I know gay people who have been forced to vacate their rented flats because of the opposition they faced from their neighbours once their sexual orientation was revealed to those neighbours, I know gay people who have been picked up by the police on being seen kissing or even affectionately hugging their same-sex partners, I know gay people who have had their houses vandalized by homophobes, I know gay people who have not been allowed to donate blood to their relatives because “gay” and “AIDS” are synonymous to those relatives, I know gay people who have been forced to go to “doctors” who have tried to “cure” their homosexuality by delivering electric shocks to their genitals (among other processes), I know gay people who have been beaten so much by their own parents and siblings that it took them months to recover. I have spoken to gay rights workers who have records of as many as 800 instances of harassment of LGBT people between December 2013 to December 2014 (that is, within one year of Section 377 being brought back). That only a few of these 800 incidents found even slightest mention in the media proves how little people care about LGBTs in India. I know of gay boys who have been raped by their own parents in order to be “cured”. I have heard lesbians speak of similar experiences. I know people of the hijra community who have to pay money AND provide sexual services to the police to avoid arrest. I know that “homo” and “hijra” are still used as slurs in India; I have seen, first-hand, how hearing as much damages the self-esteem of young gay people. As others have said on this thread, the fact that there are no laws in India to safeguard the rights of LGBTs, and that there is instead a law like Section 377 that crminalizes homosexuality, makes it easier to discriminate against homosexuals. Even in the years 2009-2013, when Section 377 had been read down, there were still cases like that of Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras. So, now that the law has been brought back, things are definitely worse than they were during those four years.
I don’t know if it’s harder for gays in the USA; not having lived there for any prolonged period, I am no expert on the topic. Having lived most of my life in India, though, I can vouch that it IS tough to be gay here. The metropolitan areas are probably more accepting than the small towns (where things are much worse when it comes to being gay), though many of the instances of homophobia I mentioned in the previous paragraph took place in the metropolitan areas. Also, most of these incidents are recent, having occurred in the previous fifteen years or so.
There are certainly those who have come out in spite of all this, and kudos to them for it. Those who haven’t come out, though, need not be sneered at. In a country as homophobic as ours, it’s an entirely understandable decision. Besides, no two gay people are the same, and are thus not going to behave identically, and certainly not when it comes to something as important and personal as coming out. It should be completely up to the individual concerned to decide how and when he/she is going to come out; there can be no single model to emulate in this regard. Saying that every LGBT person must behave in such-and-such manner in order to be deemed as admirable is as oppressive as homophobia.
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Madan
April 3, 2016
Thought it was a great film and I didn’t find it to be not dramatic enough. I mean, in a REAL family, the husband is NOT going to head out for a quick fling with his secret lover in the daytime with relatives over at the home gathered for a family photo. So there are enough fictional contrivances to create drama as it is. More would imo stretch the limits of plausibility.
As for KJ, no, I don’t think the climate here really makes it comfortable for somebody to come out so I don’t blame him for not doing so. However, if he did, it would certainly help break some walls. I mean, what does it say for our extreme hypocrisy that we continue to lap up Dharma Productions movies while maintaining a homophobic stance? If you think he is gay and think being gay is a crime, why trust him with family movies? Best part is nothing will change in real life as far as the outlook towards gays go even if the new homosexual Rahul has seemingly been accepted by the audience.
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anusrini20
April 3, 2016
I don’t know if I missed this, but what exactly does Alia’s character do with her life? There was that bit about her not coming to Coonnoor often because she is scared to fly, but what does she do otherwise? Knowing the answer to this question somehow seems very important…
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arielsomebody
April 3, 2016
@ Abhirup of course everybody makes their own decision to come out or not depending on how comfortable the are with it and their life situation, and in MY OPINION somebody like KJO who is not likely to face the problems regular people face, and who is not exactly closeted, would make a big positive difference to the situation of gay people if he is open about his orientation instead of tiptoeing around it all the time, leading to an increase in the taboo.
It would at least make sense if he’s closeted, but that’s clearly not the case.
In fact many of the gay people in mumbai resent him for this very reason. He seems reluctant to admit what all of them have embraced. It’s the question of should a celeb be a role model or not as explored in various other issues like drugs/cigarettes etc and i think he should because per my understanding , he can afford to. Of course you’re free to think differently.
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Srinivas
April 4, 2016
Aalia’s character is the Hindi film “loosu ponnu”.
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Abhirup
April 4, 2016
I don’t think any of us are in a position to decide if Karan Johar is or isn’t likely to be targetted by homophobes if he comes out, or if he can afford to do so, because we aren’t him, and we are only second-guessing about the outcome of his coming out. I don’t think it is very logical to assume that being rich or famous automatically safeguards you from homophobia. Many LGBT people I know who have regretted their coming out are financially well-off people–not of the same level as KJo, but well-off nonetheless, and they still had to undergo agonizing experiences. Moreover, as others have correctly said on this thread, celebrities often have more to fear from being outed; there’s a reason we don’t have a single huge gay celebrity in India.
So, yeah, it would be nice if KJo, or any other celebrities, came out, but if they don’t, I don’t blame them at all for not doing so.
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Apu
April 4, 2016
Arielsomebody: I did not understand your angst- are you angry that KJo has not “come out” OR are you angry that he sometimes has gay people in his movies? Are you not comfortable with gay people in movies? Frankly, in that case, Madhur Bhandarkar needs to be looked at closely because his movies almost always has one.
And as for someone coming out or not – isn’t that a personal decision and needs to be respected? After all, a sexual orientation does not define a person, and I do not see heterosexual people going around telling everyone else that “I am a hetero”, so why do we have this pressure on a supposedly-homosexual person to announce his sexuality to the world?
And in US, people are “lynched” for coming out and in India they are not? Which US and which India are you talking about?
(I totally understand that this has got very little to do with a movie. But this is just a reaction to someone being angry just because a certain “mainstream” movie-maker’s movies have gay characters in them)
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Rahini David
April 4, 2016
Apu: From where did you get the feeling that arielsomebody was objecting to mainstream movies having gay characters? Arielsomebody’s angst seems to be the very opposite of what you are suggesting.
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olemisstarana
April 5, 2016
Karan Johar has NO obligation towards anyone to come out. The only people who should be dragged kicking and screaming out of the closet are those who are active homophobes, people in positions of power and influence legislating and activist-ing against LGBTQ causes. Your republican congressman who passes anti-transgender bathroom bills while soliciting gay sex in airport bathrooms for instance, is fair game. Otherwise this obligation thing is bull.
http://www.ranker.com/list/top-10-anti-gay-activists-caught-being-gay/joanne
@Abhirup – re: the situation in the US, it is difficult, in different ways and your points stand here as well. This reminds me of the Anderson Cooper debate. He was out for all intents and purposes, but made a calculated decision to come out after he retired from active on the frontlines of the war reportage. There’s a million things that go into these decisions, and given the lack of control LGBTQ folks have over their choices and their lives, allowing them (!) control over the decision of when and how to come out is the smallest consolation available.
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tonks
April 17, 2016
BR said : And yes, was totally impressed by Fawad Khan. I quite liked him in Khoobsoorat. (Please promise not to judge me, but I quite liked the movie too )
I couldn’t find a link to a review of Khoobsoorat here in the blog when I searched, I think there isn’t one?
I really liked the movie. No surprises in the plot but it was such a frothy, feel-good movie, it felt like eating candy or ice cream. This is another movie (like Yennai arindhaal) that used voice-overs during romantic scenes that helped glimpse what was going on in the mind and the thoughts of the hero and heroine. (Usually only books quite manage to do that) I thought that in both movies, the voice-over added to my understanding of the characters and my enjoyment of the scenes.
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sanjana
June 9, 2016
A very beautiful movie. No use dissecting it. Just enjoy the movie. Some movies are just for enjoying.
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asmamasood
August 1, 2016
My review ‘Kapoor & Sons:Coincidences of karma’. Read at https://asmamasood.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/kapoor-sons-since-1921-coincidence-of-karma/ via @asmamasood11
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Sami Qahar
December 26, 2016
i saw a lot of shades of “This is where i leave you” in it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371150/
Sidharth lost me in the scene when he screams at Ratna for selling him out. Still not good enoughl
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brangan
March 28, 2017
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MS
February 21, 2018
“Aakhri baar likh raha hoon, ho sake toh kahaani yaad rakhna.”
It’s a beautiful line encapsulating a beautiful thought. Here is Arjun’s call to be remembered. This can be said to stem from the neglect he has faced his entire life. But it is also resonant of the spirit of this wonderful movie and all of its characters. Each character grapples with their own version of impending doom- whether it is the wife whose husband has forgotten her, the “perfect” son who is crumbling under the weight of his own secret and what it would do to his family, the ‘not-so-perfect son who fears being lost in his brother’s shadow, or the grandfather who is all-too-aware of his own mortality. Each character strives towards a kind of remembrance. The movie is wonderfully littered with personal memoirs. ‘Wonderfully’ only because they are never really in your face- but Arjun attempts to decode Tia from the frames in her closet, a photo album is brought out, a family bonds over an old classic song, Rahul’s fingers carefully linger over the dust on his old belongings and he smiles at the pictures on the wall. Finally, the picture Daadu wants to click and how it eventually is clicked- a new memory is created using an extremely happy memory (or a life-size, fuchsia pink cut out of the same) from the past. This moment is poignant because it brings home the idea that just for this moment where they are creating a memoir, this family as mad as our own has stopped, taken a deep breath, and remembered.
It is easier to see death as a theme in this movie, but another important theme that underlies it is nostalgia- and beautifully enough, the link between the two.
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