Youâve met?: Arjun (center, Sidharth Malhotra) is surprised to find out his brother, Rahul (left, Fawad Afzal Khan), knows Tia (Alia Bhatt)
You've met?: Arjun (center, Sidharth Malhotra) is surprised to find out his brother, Rahul (left, Fawad Afzal Khan), knows Tia (Alia Bhatt). (Courtesy of Dharma Productions/Star Fox Studios)
Bollywood has yet again given birth to a movie that has you grabbing for the tissue box.
Shakun Batra is only 33 years old but has already surpassed older peers in the industry with his superb direction of the movie Kapoor & Sons.
The movie is an unusual one, because it revolves around a dysfunctional family.
Harsh (Rajat Kapoor) and Sunita (Ratna Pathak) share a house with Harsh's father Amarjeet Kapoor alias Dadu (Rishi Kapoor), who takes pleasure in faking his own death.
One day while Harsh and Sunita argue about their lack of funds, Dadu has a real heart attack and is immediately confined to the hospital.
Dadu asks his two grandsons, Rahul (Fawad Afzal Khan) and Arjun (Sidharth Malhotra), who live abroad and hardly get along, to come home. Rahul is a successful writer in London, while Arjun is a struggling writer making ends meet at a bar in New Jersey. Rahul offers to pay for Arjun's ticket, which Arjun refuses.
The two boys reach India. Rahul, the family's favorite, gives a pair of earrings to his mother, while Arjun loses his room to his mother, who would otherwise have to sleep on a hard mattress. Arjun informs his father that he left his online job, which Harsh is unhappy about.
The next day, a plumber is called to fix a broken pipe. Harsh reaches home to inform everyone that Dadu has to go to Bangalore for treatment that could cost thousands of dollars.
When Sunita asks him where he will get the money from, Harsh says he will ask his younger brother Shashi, which angers Sunita, who feels ashamed.
She accuses him of having wasted all their money to buy a car for his mistress Anu.
Soon, husband and wife start screaming at each other. She has wanted to open a catering business for a while, but Harsh refused.
The boys try to pacify their parents, but to no avail.
The boys then visit their difficult grandfather in the hospital. Dadu refuses to go to Bangalore for further treatment, instead asking for a birthday party, telling his grandchildren that all he wants is a complete family picture. The last time he had one was in 1921. The Kapoor family heeded his request.
At the hospital, Arjun bumps into his old friend Wasim (Sukant Goel), who invites him to a party that night.
At the party, while smoking in the bathroom, Arjun meets Tia (Alia Bhatt), and despite an initial misunderstanding, the two become friends.
When contacting an agent to find him a place for an art studio, Rahul is shown Tia's house. Upon meeting Rahul, Tia has a crush on him. They have dinner and a couple of drinks. She kisses him, but he does not respond.
The next day, Arjun spots Tia in a store and drags her to go with him. Arjun reveals to her that his brother stole his plot for a novel that went on to become a bestseller. He later invites Tia to his grandfather's birthday party.
The twist escalates at the party, where Tia finds out that Rahul and Arjun are brothers. Arjun is concerned when he sees Rahul speak with Tia, though Rahul assures his brother he is not interested in the girl.
Sunita is busy in the kitchen when Anu, the mistress, enters the house with a jar of cookies. Sunita loses her temper when she sees Anu and screams at Harsh.
The boys try to separate their parents, but fail. Sunita throws the jar of cookies at Harsh's face. Harsh throws the guests out of the house, bringing the party to a bitter end. Witnessing the whole scenario, Tia leaves as well.
Dadu tries to bring Harsh and his family back together, but while they are at home, Sunita finds out a secret her son has been hiding.
The story moves on as Sunita uncovers one lie after another.
Kapoor & Sons is a perfect movie. Everything is in its place. The script has a perfect plot with mediocre dialogues, but that doesn't matter. Nobody uses film-like dialogue in family conversation, which is why this movie is for real.
Rishi Kapoor's portrayal as Dadu is enthralling. Shakun Batra has picked out the best actors for this movie, each of them portraying their respective character on par with the role's requirement.
Alia Bhatt might be redundant in playing her usual cheeky role, but that is forgivable.
Shakun's direction allows the viewers to seep through the characters of the movie and then slowly take them from comic scenes to a highly emotional ending. Everything makes sense in this movie. The correct editing gives way to a good narration of the story.
Shakun tampers with the gay issue, which Bollywood has avoided over the years, but he manages to ponder on it with good taste.
Kapoor & Sons is a movie not to be missed. It is a good, realistic change from the usual Bollywood.
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