akbrahmo

It's all about urban relationships- the facade we have to maintain at times in order to keep our relationships going. Social media posts often are most colourful when relationships are at their worst. The younger lot comprising Chumki( Sara Ali Khan is good) , Shruti ( Fatima has improved her acting skills a lot) are at times fickle in their relationships and seem to be sitting on a fence whereas the elderly- Shivani ( Neena Gupta is brilliant)and Sanjeev Ghosh ( Saswata Chatterjee looks the part) who have tolerated each other longer, have got used to living with each other. There so-called more permanent coexistence is not because they love each other madly. It's a facade again because they don't want to roil the fabric of their families and they have to live upto social expectations. Their daughter Kajol ( Kankana the natural) and her hubby Monty ( the master Pankaj Tripaathi) are going through a midlife crisis in their relationship. Monty crosses the line and his family life is on the verge of ruins.

After a long long hiatus, Shivani and her once flame Parimal ( Anupam Kher is convincing in whichever part he does) get together at a college reunion. Fond memories are rekindled. Old age companionship fills their lives with joys however temporary.

How these complex issues are brought on the rails, is the story in the second half. The movie is little too long. It could have done with tighter editing. Characters singing songs to narrate their stories directly to viewers is an interesting experiment but at times it's a tad tedious.

Acting wise the film leaves nothing to be desired. All principal characters have acquitted themselves with elan. Pritam's musical score is good but too loud and interfering at times.

Pretty watchable Metro... is.

Amit Brahmo Kolkata.

Kalidhar( Abhishek Bachchan) is the eldest brother in a family comprising his two brothers, sister in law. His younger sister Gudiya is married. Gudiya is the only one in the family who genuinely loves her brother Kalidhar whereas the other ones are planning to usurp the property. Kalidhar gets occasional seizures and tends to forget things. He often suffers from hallucinations. His brothers plan to exploit his medical condition and take him to the Kumbh mela to abandon him. Kalidhar wanders here and there and meets Ballu, an orphan who lives in the village temple and reads in the local school. A bond develops between the two and for the first time both discover what true love is all about.

They do odd jobs and sell things to earn money. A further twist awaits you when his brothers start to look for him again. The reason? You have to watch the lovely small movie which dissects several facets of interpersonal relationships. Daivik Baghel as Ballu has really won our hearts. Abhishek is good enough. Only thing, he looked a tad too urbane for the role of a villager Kalidhar. He doesn't gel. Nimrat appears in a cameo.

All in all a neat and an enjoyable film.

Noyonika Sengupta( Kajol) is having a sound marriage,( or so her friends think) two beautiful kid daughters and a seemingly successful hubby who's a judge. And then her world comes crashing down when her husband's sex videos are released on social media( Jisshu Sengupta). A case is also made out against him of bribery, of accepting sexual favours etc. He is arrested and sent to jail. In his absence Noyonika Sengupta has to let go of the house, bank accounts of her husband. She doesn't work aby longer but once she was a hotshot lawyer. Her old friend Vishal helps her by giving her a position of intern on probation in his law firm. Noyonika and her two impressionable daughters are socially humiliated at her husband / their father having been incarcerated on bribery, and sexual escapade charges. But she carries on gamely and tries to explain the situation as honestly as possible, to her kids. She's deeply hurt by her hubby's wayward behaviour and infidelity but keeps her emotions in check.

Kajol as Noyonika Sengupta is brilliant. At times quite hyper but overall quite professional. It's just that her cases in the court appear to rather facile. Subplots are rather weak. The drama is not as taut as the story would demand. Acting wise as mentioned Kajol is pretty convincing in portraying her inner betrayal and at the same time in maintaining a professional facade. Jisshu does not have much drama in his character. He's passable. Kubra Sait is a revelation! Ally Khan as Vishal, Noyonika's good friend and once date in college, is quite good. Screenplay is a tad loose. Watchable but not great.