'Pk'….err...'Piku'… :)

PK…..err….Piku… ‘light’ ‘comedy’ ‘family-drama’?!!

Hi wonderful people,

Howz mid summer treating you? Hotly of course :)))

Abhi kya hua naa, ki after ‘Pk’, now Bollywood decided to ‘treat’ us Indian audiences with ‘Piku’ by the Director of ‘Vicky donor’, Shoojit Sirkar.

When I first heard that a movie was coming on floors with a name like this and starring all my favourites, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika and Irrfan…it obviously got me awaiting in earnest. I happily started researching more about what its going to be.

I came to know, it would be a ‘light-hearted’ ‘comedy’ ‘family-drama’, wherein Amitji and Deepika are playing a Bong father-daughter duo and Irrfan her love interest. It was supposed to be a flick much like the Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies in the past. Wow, so far so good. Chupke Chupke was already running in my mind. I readied myself for a feast, completely appeasing my emotional thirst and tickling the laughter-centre in my brain, leaving me ROFL [Roll Over the Floor Laughing] all through the movie. After all, all three of them are perfectly capable of that, nai kya? :)

Aur uspe the Bangla backdrop was a welcome atmosphere for me where I expected the girl to be very well educated and liberated in tune with the present times. Ab imagine two Bong women in conversation…..in….err….cordial conversation I mean, :), it sounds so musical nai? ‘Hain, kee holo…?’ ‘Bolbe naa kee?’ ‘Kamon ashen?’ ‘kaino…?’ ‘Jol khobe kee…?’ [pardon my mistakes]

oh I just luv it. :)

Aur uske bhi upar se, Amitabh, jinki ‘Biwi’ khaalis Bong ho, he must toh relish the tone and slangs in Bangla having lived all his life with his wifey and sasural wale!!  :))))

Toh bhaiya, I was in eager anticipation and 8^th of May seemed so far away it was very discomforting for me.

Aur maloom? Just for the records, when Bachchan saab cycles through Kolkata streets the cute little girl that we see from the window playing harmonium is Shoojit Sirkar’s daughter…..her debut in bollywood movies :)

In the process of killing the time lapse, I even saw the 1980 short film by Satyajit Ray himself, called Pikoo starring Aparna Sen and Victor Bannerjee. It was a very intense story, true to the maestro Ray himself. It had so much to say, if I start, it would take a whole book to speak about it…so I would leave it at that saying, ‘its beyond the scope of this write-up’ as of now. The only thing I would mention here is that it was very saddening…..seeing the lonely old grandpa dying of heart attack when he couldn’t reach the bed switch of his alarm bell put up to call his aide in case he required something. I sighed in relief that at least this modern Piku would be a comedy, leaving me fresh and light headed when I am done watching it.

Finally the D-day arrived… ‘Piku’ was released….and I did watch it….from begininning to The End…..

Then? Fir kya?

Did it not give the best ever performances by the three main leads?- It did….they were in their acting best.

Did it not have instances of making you ROFL?- It did….the comic timing, superb expressions and spontaneous dialogues of Amitabh , the flawless performances of Deepika, Irrfan and Maushmi were very much there.   

Did it not grab a whopping 25 Crore in the opening weekend? – It did,

Was the music not up to the mark? – It was…

Then again I asked myself,

‘Fir tujhe problem kya hai Devi?’ :)))

Why was I not happy?

Why was I not satisfied, neither emotionally nor psychologically?

Why did I feel disappointed?

I pondered…..

I had read, it was a ‘light’ movie…I felt it was far from it, it was a strong satire and very heavy on my head.

I had read it was a ‘family drama’ showing the realistic status of a family. Oh c’mon, give me a break….is this the way the family members communicate in a family? Piku’s daily conversations with her father, with the taxi drivers, with Irrfan…even daily behaviour and interactions of Irrfan with his mother and abandoned sister, when its clearly specified in the movie that both Bhaskor and Rana are feminists and respect women….can we call it all normal? Just imagine what kind of place would the world be if such is the scenario in each and every family?

The so called perfect, liberated, modern daughter is cribbing all the time, shown like a martyr sacrificing her life for her own father, while she works, boozes, moves about in a taxi [no hassles of public transport] has a full time maid and a male aide for the old father….and still they share a single solitary smile in the entire movie when they sing a bangali song!! 

 I was forced to ponder, is it some favour that the children do, when they look after their old eccentric parents? And if this is the justified status then how can we blame a daughter in law or son in law, who have to look after their ailing saas ans sasur [fathers and mothers in law] for anything that they do or do not do. What to talk of those old parents and parents in law who cant go to the proper washrooms for their basic needs.....

India is still a country where parents respected and loved. Being liberated doesn’t justify any change from this.

The way Irrfan falls for her, the way her colleague Jisshu waits on her….all this is illogical in practicality. Irrfan, the cab owner, going out of the way to drive them to Kolkata just doesn’t happen in reality. 

The relation between the old man and his male-maid is much better in comparison. He stands outside the washroom making the verbal atmosphere with ‘Sssssssssssss’…….. while his master pisses. He wakes up first when his master nearly dies the morning after he gets filthy drunk, calls for Piku since 4 am in the morning but she doesn’t wake up. When she reaches her father’s bedside, the Doctor has already seen and treated him being called by the nauker. I am disappointed :/

I am again forced to ponder, when the real daughter is so uncomfortable what Is the motivation behind that servant loving and behaving well with the master? I am disappointed :/

Amitabh is at his acting best no doubt but his Bangla words and slangs are loud and overdone. I am disappointed :/

The music is good I agree, but apart from the peppy Sunidhi number, rest all four songs seem to be just a continuation of a single one….found it hard to differentiate one from the other. They are very soulful with nice voice of Anupam Roy who has done the composing, writing and voicing in this film, first Hindi movie for him….but somehow they seem inconsequential……the contexts could easily go without a song interspersed. They did not get their due worth. I am disappointed :/

I am sad, that I am disappointed. I wanted to love the movie. But again I ask myself, isn’t it getting rave reviews? Mera thoda alag hai toh kya hua? :)

Toh sau baat ki ek baat….. “Afwaho pe mat jao, apni akal lagao”

Go watch it for yourself and decide what its worth. I did. You do too. :)

Aur fir apan fir mileinge…..ek aur Bollywood movie ke saath Chai pe charcha karte huye…

Tab tak khush rahiye, muskurate rahiye….

Love, Laugh and Live to the fullest….till we meet again…

Bye, Tata, cheerio from me here at Page-3 :)