'Piku' - Movie Review

'Piku' is like the hot chicken broth for the senses, the kind of food you know will soothe you, warm you up inside and more importantly, won't mess with your digestive system. Do watch this one, more so, if you are a Bengali, you won't stop smiling for most of the two plus hour duration

'Piku'
U/A; Comedy/Drama
Director: Shoojit Sircar
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan
Rating:

'Piku' is like hot chicken broth for the senses, the kind of food you know will soothe you, warm the cockles of your heart and more importantly, won't mess with your digestive system. Perhaps, the kind of dish that would be just ideal for one of the lead protagonists of the film, 70-year-old Bhashkor Banerjee (Amitabh Bachchan), who perpetually suffers from constipation. Banerjee (and the script) is obsessed with his blocked tract and insists on chronicling and describing every step of his highly erratic bowel movement.

A poster of the film, 'Piku'. Pic/Santa Banta

His daughter Piku's (Deepika Padukone) life willy nilly revolves around her father's toilet rituals, thus affecting her career, her moods, and also thwarting any chances of her meeting a decent man to marry. Piku is a bright professional and a liberated woman who is cool about casual sex with her business partner (Jisshu Sengupta) and openly defends it as nothing but a 'need' in front of her aged father. However, the crux of the story is the dichotomy as Piku is also the 'ideal' Indian daughter who in spite of knowing that her father is 'selfishly' thwarting her chances of marriage because of his fear of letting her go, doesn't really do much about it. She does vent her frustration by constantly grumbling about the situation to her crazy father or her vibrant maasi (Maushumi Chatterjee). The maasi is the only one who kind of manages to dodge the eccentric Banerjee's barbs.

Then enters Rana Chaudhury (Irrfan), a failed engineer but an extremely patient man, who's managed to not lose his sense of humour in spite of a not-so-great life.

The film works at many levels. It is a rare story woven around the fascinating bond between a father and daughter, and shows it as it is, without getting melodramatic or glossing over the bitter truths or personality flaws. The smooth flowing (pardon all puns) narration makes it a delight to watch as you get involved with the Banerjee family from the word go. The narration gets a little flat and underwhelming at some points, but fortunately gets a boost of energy with Irrfan's entry.

Photos: Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and other Bollywood celebs at a special screening of 'Piku'

Director Shoojit Sircar is obviously snug as a bug in a rug with the Bengali 'Kaalture' and that comfort reflects on the screen. Sharp screenplay and charming dialogues by Juhi Chaturvedi compliments the mood as the duo take us through a Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee kind of delightful slice of life experience. However, one wishes that so much 'Bengaliness' was not unnecessarily crammed into certain scenes. Subtle references might have worked better.

Deepika has put in a good effort — in the first half, her performance bordered on play acting, but she is excellent in the second half. This was not an easy role to play for the actress who has rather impressively honed her talent. But undoubtedly, the film belongs to the two powerhouses of talent, the two gentlemen, Bachchan and Irrfan. It is an absolute delight to see the two of them together, making it all seem so easy, effortless and absolutely believable. Irrfan, undoubtedly one of the finest actors we have, gets some of the funniest lines and he does full justice to them.

Do watch this one, more so, if you are a Bengali. I bet you won't stop smiling for most of the two-plus hour duration.

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