Review: HOPE AUR HUM

Heart Is In The Right Place

But So Exhausting And Dull

2.5 Stars

Mini Review:

Everything old is eventually replaced by something new,

and it’s best to adapt. Whether it is an ancient photocopier

or a big old house. This is a lesson that this small feel-good

family film that has the heart in its right place brings on

the big screen. They try really hard and even though little

scenes from the film are good, the film drags on and on

and you wish it had been made for TV movie instead.

Main Review:

Old man Nagesh Srivastava is stuck on his ancient photocopier,

it occupies space which could be turned into his granddaughter’s

room. Son Aamir Bashir and daughter in law Sonali Kulkarni try

to persuade him gently to let go of the machine whose spare

parts cannot be found. The grand daughter tries hard to help him

get that missing lens too…

But it is the cricket-crazy grandson who steals the show. This little

boy is Kabir Shaikh and he is just brilliant. When he’s comment-

ating ‘Gupta dadu pavilion ki ore stretcher par ja rahe hain’ as the

mourners take away the dead neighbor Guptaji away for a funeral.

The little boy is better than most Bollywood actors when he feels

guilty of leaving a kid inside a big trunk back at his grandma’s

home. His guilt, his fear, his inability to share the event with his

parents, the joy at solving the dilemma are brilliantly acted by

this little boy.

Just like the old photocopier, there is grand old palace like haveli

which is being given to a hotel chain for redevelopment, there is

a son who hankers for his old phone because there is data on it…

Every problem is solved nicely but it takes so long you begin to

lose patience.

Thankfully Naseeruddin Shah who has in his last appearances on

the big screen is usually unrestrained and hammy is not. His

performance is restrained even though his conversation with the

old photocopier is annoying.

The drinking with dad scene between Aamir Bashir and

Naseeruddin Shah is sweet. So is Sonali Kulkarni’s apologetic

but guilty for throwing away the old photocopier scene where

she offers her father in law tea is heartwarming. The granny

(beautiful and graceful Beena Bannerjee) who teaches the cricket

crazy grandson how to play the old gramophone record player is

such a wonderful scene. Events you have experienced if you are

living with a family that includes older parents. The only annoying

part is played by the younger son, who comes bearing expensive

gifts from Dubai. His connect to an old phone seems to be illogical

and his story seems to be too forced in the film.

And when the aerial shot shows us how isolated and stand alone

grandma’s palace is, you wonder where the kids who were playing

hide and seek and cricket come from?  

This film has a decent slice-of-life feel and it comes to the screens

a week after 102 Not Out - the movie that received big publicity, and

starred two fabulous actors. But it should have gone straight to television.

(this review appears on nowrunning dot com)