Les carrefours de la vie

The director has taken themes that people do not want to not talk about and transformed these realities into something beautiful and bearable. Aging, loneliness, poverty, frustration, violence are all aspects of our lives that we knowingly ignore as they are too difficult to deal with in the Now of our zombie mode. The director put these into a vessel of hope, kindness and beauty so that the viewer can put down her guard and look into their own mirror without disgust or disdain. Loved each character, but my favorite were Jackie and Monica Panwar. Both are caterpillars in transformation. Great cinema. Watch it.

Such a wonderful movie. Had nice time watching it with my wife. We both liked it. Jackie sir acting is awesome, Neena ji's character is fantastic. Best scenes were both breaking in and Drinking beer together, fantastic. First time watching Abhishek Chauhan, fantastic actor, had done a great acting. First time watching Monika Panwar as well, she too played a crucial role and done fantastic. Both Abhishek and Monika are very great actors. Done there part fantastically. Rakhi ji's Cameo was awesome. Her role was also very crucial, even though her screen time is small, her role made an impact. Overall fantastic movie and must watch. Such a light hearted and happy movie. Bus Mast mein rehne ka!!!

Tone, Script & Story: There are more than one stories here running in parallel, mainly an old age man, an old age women and a tailor. The tailor's story includes a women, a costume contractor, a helper who helps him in lodging and a mafia that rents him home. All these stories mostly at some time clash with other.

One of the things that caught my attention was how old age woman that were full of life clashes with old man and refers to him as madrasi. There's one of my friends who refers to one of my other friends as Bajaj. Although we are not old. I hope they read this review.

The words that I am pinning down for this movie are not enough to highlight its superiority. If I pen it down it would be a spoiler. It is terrific drama. You have to watch it to know its beauty.

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: Tailors residence, dhaba, rehearsal house, bus, old people residences, bar, etc are all captured well.

Music: Music is average that resonates well along with the movie. Acting: Acting too is top notch, be it Neena, Jackie, Rakhi or others.

Final Verdict: It came to my attention that very few people have rated it on IMDb which meant only few have watched it. Watch it guys you won't be disappointed.

It's a tale of four individuals. Kamath (Jackie Shroff) and Prakash Kaur Handa (Neena Gupta), two lonely widower. Madhosh Gupta aka Nanhe (Abhishek Chauhan), a poor ladies tailor in debt and Rawas (Monika Pawar). Circumstances lead Nanhe to be jobless and in dire need of money to re-start his tailoring job. He resorts to robbing houses of lonely elderly and Kamath, Prakash Kaur are among his victims. How Kamath and Prakash Kaur get to know each other to re-want to live their lives and how difficult the lives of Nanhe and Rawas are, inspite of them wanting to live their lives the way they dream of, forms rest of the story.

Mumbai is not just a city of dreams but a city full of stories. That is what resonates with me personally, despite my brief visits to the city. The beauty of this film is it is the city that brings these four characters alive on screen. Be it their insecurities, their loneliness, their dishonesty, their struggle to even their greed, Mumbai is what shapes them as human beings. From the grumpy lonely widower wanting to die and his equally grumpy lonely widower who wants to live. Each of these characters are meant to be with each other, not just to complete each other but that is what life intends for them. The screenplay and ofcourse the performances held me till the end, including Rakhi Sawant as Bilkis.

Having said that, Vijay Maurya deserves full credit for his direction and even for co-writing this with Payal Arora. There is no deviation from these four characters as their life unfolds. Building these characters as they chose to open up with each other. One couple has seen life, lived it too whereas the other is now seeing life. The way they perceive life, even with their day to day activities, there is this warmth these moments create which lasted long after the film ended. Ofcourse I yearned for the happy endings, that is what one does when they root for the characters but taking this journey through their lives itself was worth it. For me, this easily ranks among the best films of 2023.

Wow what a movie!...captures the spirit of Mumbai..fantastic work by the whole cast ... everything is perfect about this movie.. reminds me of the golden days of Bombay .. wow .. this movie should be in the so called 500 crore club... great direction ... interesting and original story and awesome acting by Jackie..Neena..Abhishek Chauhan and especially his girlfriend too good .. the daily struggle of mumbaikar.. the people who make the city what it is and the cute little story of the old couple is really good.. and of course the easy on ears songs and background score .. The makers have to applauded for such touching work 👍