Delhi, like much of India, has a
dichotomous existence. The glass facades and grandeur of New Delhi contrast the
congested and modest by-lanes of Purani
Dilli. Director Leena Yadav’s Netflix Original, ‘Rajma Chawal’ uses this distinction
between Old and New Delhi to set its characters but misses the mark in
execution. It is a recipe that had the potential to be the audience’s comfort
food but ends up leaving them with a grumbling stomach.
A New Delhi bred musician, Kabir
(played by Anirudh Tanwar), along with his father (played by Rishi Kapoor)
moves into their old ancestral home in Chandni Chowk. Due to the untimely death
of his mother and a remorse-filled gap between the two, Kabir is shown not to
be on very good terms with his father. Despite being surrounded by a dozen odd
over-friendly relatives and neighbors, Kabir feels disconnected to Chandni Chowk.
The son feels his father insulted his mother’s melodious singing by falling asleep when she sang, while the father explains that the music had a calming and
relaxing effect on him. The father gorges on the famous parathas of Purani Dilli and Nukkad ki chai, while the
son can’t seem to stand these. Father relishes Rajma-Chawal with his hands,
while his son asks for a spoon with almost a feeling of contempt. The differences are starkly evident between the two. In a bid to connect with his
son, a technologically challenged man joins Facebook and begins chatting with
him under a fake alias. Amid grappling with his mother’s death and struggling with
his music, he meets Tara (played by Amyra Dastur), a gold-digger and a
hairstylist with a funky hairstyle. As one can predict, she acts as the
catalyst that brings together the estranged father-son.
The plot sounds interesting and
has some good moments as well, which are few and far apart. The biggest problem
in the movie is its unconvincing writing by Vivek Anchalia and Leena Yadav. The
plot twists seem to happen rather unnaturally – a band is formed over night
after a chance meeting of Kabir with random strangers. Though there are subtle
hints of various subplots such as Tara’s past and Kabir’s mother’s death, but the
pieces do not fall into place seamlessly. It begins to look like a forcefully
made jigsaw puzzle, with subplots being the pieces that are forcefully joined
to solve the puzzle. Even the actors do not seem completely convinced of
the story, which is evident in their superficial acting, only on the surface of
it. Rishi Kapoor plays his part decently well, but his character remains on the
surface without much explanation. Debutante Anirudh Tanwar is decent, though his
range of emotions seem limited. He appears to be a pro at displaying anger but fumbles
at emoting other emotions. Amyra Dastur adds some spunk and is easy on the eyes
but gets a caricature to play. She plays a stereotypical loud-mouthed girl with
weird tattoos and an odd hairstyle, just to prove a point that she has suffered
in life and has now become an independent woman. Among the other cast,
Aparshakti Khurana and Sheeba Chaddha are good in their small parts and add to
the comic relief.
What could have easily been a
feel-good movie, is unnecessarily marred by a lot of plot twists in the second
half. The first half, even with contrived twists, is enjoyable. It is in the
second half, when the movie loses its charm and begins to become monotonous and
repetitive. Also, a movie where the lead is a musician deserves much better
music. Composer Hitesh Sonik uses similar tunes with different lyrics by Irshad
Kamil, with none of the tracks being memorable. Even his wife Sunidhi Chauhan has
sung a passable number.
While I watched the movie at
Mumbai Film Festival in a theatre, it will have a worldwide release on Netflix.
Going by the content, this movie makes for a decent watch on Netflix, if there
are no other better options. So, catch it if you have nothing better to watch.
My Rating – 2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.