Neerja (2016) - Movie Review

Neerja (2016) - By Ram Madhvani

Dil Dhadakne Do (2015): An insipid family drama about a Delhi-based upper class Punjabi business family

Dil Dhadakne Do is a 2015 Indian family drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar and co-produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. Co-written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, Dil Dhadakne Do features a star-studded ensemble cast led by Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Rahul Bose, Shefali Shah, and Farhan Akhtar. The movie revolves around an upper class Punjabi family on a cruise trip. The father, Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor), is a self-made businessman who is married to Neelam (Shefali Shah), a housewife, and the couple has two children, Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) who is married to Manav (Rahul Bose) and Kabir (Ranveer Singh) who is a bachelor. The cruise is planned by Ayesha and Kabir to celebrate their parents’ 30th marriage anniversary. However, Kamal Mehra is facing bankruptcy, and, being a shrewd businessman, he sees the cruise as an opportunity to revive credibility by selling off 49 percent of his company’s stake to a powerful adversary, by hook or by crook. Soon things begin to take an ugly shape as Kamal’s ambitions once again come in the way of his children’s happiness.

      

Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah as Kamal and Neelam Mehra

Dil Dhadakne Do is essentially about rich people, their extravagant lives, scandalous affairs, and the problems that surround them. Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar must have had the Indian diaspora in their minds while devising the movie’s script. Since independence, the Hindi cinema had been instrumental role in highlighting the issues of national importance; time and again, it played a pivotal role in eliciting a strong feeling of patriotism that kept the nation together in the times of need: be it war or natural calamities. But, it all began to change around the 1990s as the Nehruvian socialism made way for liberalization, globalization, and privatization. As the Indian economy slowly opened up, the Hindi cinema began to experience an Anglicization of sorts with the growing influence of the Indian diaspora which is best demonstrated by films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Pardes, Namastey London, etc. Bollywood started catering more and more to the English speaking Indians as oppose to the whole of India as used to be the case earlier. While some recent films have shown a change in this trend, many major production houses are still sticking to the time-tested formula of making films that cater to the Anglophonic tastes of the ever expanding urban middleclass. It can be said with absolute certainty that Dil Dhadakne Do is targeted towards the very class of audience.   

Priyanka Chopra and Rahul Bose in Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do

Dil Dhadakne Do brings to the fore the issue of marital incompatibility between partners. It’s a topic that’s seldom been touched upon in Hindi films. Even the modern Indian families haven’t yet fully come to terms with the important issue of gender equality. Yes, the women certainly have greater liberty but they still don’t enjoy the equality that’s associated with the fairer sex in the western societies. For all important matters (like marriage, family planning, work, etc.) the females must seek permission from their fathers/husbands. And then there’s this childish fascination for a male heir to take forward the family legacy. Why can’t a daughter assume the mantle, if she has both the interest and the qualification? It is questions like these that lie at the heart of Dil Dhadakne Do. The movie also poses some important questions about life: Why we humans despite being gifted with the power of speech fail to propagate our innermost thoughts to the ones we love? Why we spent most of our time doing things that have little relevance to life? Why we allow our ego to come in the way of our love? Why we complicate the lives of ones we love and care about instead of showing them the right path? Most of these questions appear in form of voiceovers, brilliantly delivered by none other than Aamir Khan whose narration is certainly the movie’s USP.

Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh in Dil Dhadakne Do 

‪Overall, Dil Dhadakne Do comes across as a breath of fresh air with a rainbow of touching performances. But, the movie could have been much more than a clichéd melodramatic family affair had the makers given greater importance to storytelling than merely trying to accommodate a stellar ensemble cast in the screenplay. Dil Dhadakne Do can be watched for the performances and the scenic locations (although the movie proves to quite underwhelming even in this department, especially when compared to Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara). This critic, for one, certainly expects more in the creative department from the talented duo of Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Is in asking for too much? Speaking of performances, the sizzling romance between Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma proves to be a major highlight (it’s their first outing after a long hiatus following their break up and it has certainly been worth the wait). Also, it’s good to see Priyanka Chopra and Anil Kapoor being their a-games to the table. While Farhan Akhtar puts up a rather sedate show during his special appearance, Rahul Bose is solid as ever in the role of a chauvinistic husband. One particular scene between Bose and Chopra wherein the husband-wife duo plays Tennis is both funny and intense—the sequence brilliantly sums up their rather lopsided relationship. Amidst a series of solid performances, it’s Shefali Shah’s performance of a troubled housewife that stands first among equals. Dil Dhadakne Do certainly lacks a universal appeal, and while it will best be appreciated by the Anglophone urban audience, anyone who is not particularly uninterested in rich people's problems can afford to give it a try.  

(This review was first published at A Potpourri of Vestiges). 

Readers, please feel free to share your views/opinions in the comment box below. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!  

References:

IMDb

Wikipedia

Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) Trailer

Piku (2015): A powerful lesson on the meaningfulness of life

Piku is a 2015 Hindi feature film directed by Shoojit Sircar whose previous assignments include highly successful films like Vicky Donor (2012) and Madras Cafe (2013). Written by Juhi Chaturvedi, Piku stars Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan, and Moushumi Chatterjee in the major roles. The movie revolves around a Delhi-based father-daughter duo hailing from an upper class Bengali family. Bhaskor Banerjee, a 70-year-old widower, is an aging hypochondriac whose only real trouble is his chronic constipation. Piku Banerjee, a 30-year-old successful architect, hasn’t yet managed to find herself a worthy suitor, partly because of being fully devoted to the cause of looking after her pesky father (who selfishly wants her to stay single and serve him), and partly because of her own short temperament and promiscuous sexual tendencies.

Amitabh Bachchan as Bhaskor Banerjee in Piku

When Piku decides to sell off their ancestral house in Kolkata, Bhaskor, who is adamant on keeping the property, cajoles her into taking a 1500 Km road trip from Delhi to Kolkata, citing his health issues for not wanting to travel by air or rail. When the regular driver doesn’t show up on time, Rana Chaudhary, the owner of the taxi service company contracted by Piku’s organization, fills his place. Rana, who lives with his grumpy mother and annoying sister, is a civil engineer by profession. After he gets fired by a company in Saudi Arabia, he returns to India and takes over reins of his dead father’s taxi business. Unbeknownst to Piku, Rana secretly admires her eccentricity, willfulness, and social independence. The road trip allows Rana to see Piku up close. It also allows Piku to let go of her prickly façade and understand herself better. As for Bhaskor, it’s a rare opportunity to break free of his monotonous life and reunite with his family in Kolkata.

Deepika Padukone in Shoojit Sircar's Piku

Part family drama, part road movie, Piku is a unique cocktail of human emotions that tugs at our heartstrings, making us laugh and cry at the same time. Piku delivers a serious message about life in an altogether non-serious manner. It teaches us about the meaningfulness of life while depicting how most of us fail to savor its true pleasures while we still can. How instead of embracing the life’s unbridled happiness, we waste our time seeking materialistic pursuits, constantly cribbing over trivial matters. How we allow loneliness and solitude to slowly creep into our lives while remaining completely ignorant of the eternal joys of the universe. How we fail to find solace in the company of our loved ones and let our ego and not love to dictate the decisions we make. How the generation gap between the young and the old keeps widening with passing time. How death takes away everything save the memories which stay with us forever. 

Irrfan Khan as Rana Chaudhary in Piku

The strongest point of Piku (apart from direction and screenplay) is the performances of Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone. While one expects nothing but the best from stalwarts likes Mr. Bachchan (a great follow up to his remarkable turn in R. Balki's Shamitabh) and Irrfan (he seldom disappoints… and Piku is no exception), it is Padukone’s performance that’s the biggest surprise of the movie. First Finding Fanny (2014) and now Piku, without make-up looks seem to suit Padukone really well. We all have seen her in numerous glamorous avatars in big banner Hindi films but here we get to witness a very different side to her. Padukone's character epitomizes the 21^st century Indian woman for whom self-respect and social independence are as important as the love for her family (perhaps, those who have seen Vogue India’s “My Choice” dedicated to women empowerment can relate to it better). It’s quite heartening to see a modern Indian actress like Padukone try her hands at something new and challenging. Yesteryear actress Moushumi Chatterjee’s cameo in Piku is another high point of the film and few the scenes that she share with Mr. Bachchan are quite memorable (who can forget their sizzling romantic number "Rimjhim Gire Sawan" from the 1979 movie Manzil?). 

A Still from Shoojit Sircar's Piku

Overall, Piku makes for a great family viewing and can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. The credit goes to Sircar and team for concocting up a simple but meaningful film about life. As alluring as the road trip from Delhi to Kolkata itself are the resplendent shots of the Ganges at the holy city of Varansi, captured during the early morning as well as in the night. Some of the scenes towards the end of the film brilliantly capture the bewitching beauty of the enigmatic city of Kolkata. It’s quite heartening to see Sircar pay tributes to the great Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray on a couple of occasions in the film (first, in the opening scene itself, we get to see a portrait of his hung on the wall... second, one of the characters makes a reference to the master India filmmaker's body of work... perhaps, the name Piku is also based on a character in Ray's exceptional short film, Pikoo's Diary) Piku’s innocent toilet humor may be at the receiving end of some flak from certain sections of audiences but most viewers will certainly appreciate the spirit in which it’s done. Piku will certainly prove to be a great experience for those looking for a nice family outing. But, if your sole aim is escapist entertainment then Piku would certainly leave you cold. Recommended!

(This review was first published at A Potpourri of Vestiges). 

Readers, please feel free to share your views/opinions in the comment box below. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!  

References:

IMDb

Wikipedia

Piku (2015) Trailer

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015): Dibankar Banerjee's dark, sprawling period piece oozing with suspense and film noir elements

A richly textured detective story with a multilayered narrative

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015) - By Dibankar Banerjee

Our Ratings: 8.0
IMDb Ratings: 8.4

Genre: Mystery | Thriller

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee
Country: India

Language: Hindi | Mandarin | Japanese

Runtime: 148 min

Color: Color

Summary: In a contemporary interpretation of war torn Calcutta during the 1940's, the film follows the first adventure of Byomkesh, fresh out of college, as he pits himself against an evil genius who is out to destroy the world. It's his wits against the most villainous arch criminal the world has seen, in a world of murder, international political intrigue and seduction.