We tell you why Kapoor & Sons should be your movie for the weekend...and maybe the next as well!
2016 is truly great for a movie lover like me, especially the ones who still trusts Bollywood to produce some quality other than the regular inspired-from Hollywood factory products. Three months and I got to see three great movies! While January was completely about Akshay Kumar'sAirlift, February brought in one of the best movies in recent times in Neerja and finally, in March, I watched Kapoor & Sons!
These three movies are enough for me to forgive and forget anomalies like Mastizaade and Kyaa Kool Hai Hum 3 that also released this year! Now coming back to Kapoor & Sons, let me tell this at the onset itself - the film is not any pathbreaking cinema. You won't find any new ideas, plot devices or a earth-shattering twists. Sure, there is a thread in the film that explores alternate sexuality, but we did have films that have handled this subject before. If the film is not ground-breaking in any way, then why are we recommending it?
Simple, because you don't need a novel subject to tell a beautiful story, all you need is an engaging screenplay and some relatable situations, backed with some fantastic performances to make a good film!
Here are five reasons why Kapoor & Sons worked for us:
The family drama is so relatable
Sure, the Kapoor family is dysfunctional at its worst, and your family may not at all be like that! But the problems they had (sibling rivalry, parents choosing one kid over the other etc. ) as well as the sweeter moments are something you will totally relate to! After two huge fights, when the family comes together with their extended members for that one night of merriment, you will laugh and wipe tears at the same time. Even that scene where the parents, who have been fighting all along, spends that same night lying on the bed and reflecting back as to what went wrongs, is so subtly nuanced and terrific. Of course, like in real life, worries are just round the corner!
Alia Bhatt, Sidharth and Fawad's easy camaraderie
Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt have already done a film together (Student of the Year), and they are rumoured to be a couple, so definitely we can see that easy-going chemistry between these two. But both of them also have an equally amiable chemistry with Fawad as well. Though Alia Bhatt basically has a supporting role in the film, her scenes with both Sid and Fawad are like bright rays of sun, peeking through a dark grey cloudy sky!
Everyone in the cast is brilliant!
Very rarely do we see films where every actor pitch in admirable performances. Sidharth Malhotra is moving from strength to strength and he is really likeable as the younger, brasher son. I am sure every younger sibling would relate to his character. Alia Bhatt may be having the least substantial role, yet she is a bright spark in the movie, especially in the scene where she breaks down and reveal to Sid how she lost her parents. Rishi Kapoor may be bogged down by slightly fake prosthetics, but provides some of the best humorous moments of the film. The parents played by Rajat Kapoor and Ratna Pathak Shah are so good and so real-life, that we pray that our parents don't fight like them. Even the lesser players like the guy who play Sid's friends are natural. But the real star of the film is...
Fawad Khan is LEGEN...Wait for it...DARY!
Before I went for Kapoor & Sons, I had no idea what the fuss about Fawad was all about. I mean I liked his performance in his debut Khuda Kay Liye, missed his Pakistani soaps (which my sister reminds me every now and then...that he is totally awesome in!) and was okay in Sonam Kapoor's Khoobsurat. But here, he is given some real meat in his role, and he totally sinks his teeth in it! And damn! The man is awesome! His every gesture, every expression is so spot on. Be it his emotional outbursts or the quieter scenes or the one where he basically has to smile, the man nail it perfectly! Bro, you got one more fan!
How Shakun handled some very strong (and a taboo topic) scenes deftly
If Fawad Khan is the star then Shauk Batra is the hero of the film. The way he handled a not-so-new story and gave it such an engaging spin needs to be lauded. The three scenes where we can see his genius at its best is here 1. The family's first fight in the film, where the parents start fighting first, and soon the children get involved. 2. When the family gets together and spend a night talking their hearts out, and 3. When the skeletons all came out together at the same time! He also brought in much enough sensitivity into handling the subject of alternate sexuality, without making the viewers uncomfortable, while subtly questioning our own hypocrisy towards the topic! Shakun, desperately waiting for your third now...
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