What kind of person makes a 2 hour film on bowel movements? Well, the type who considers a sperm donor to be a potent enough subject for a movie! Yes Shoojit Sircar is at it again.
From the narrow congested lanes of Vicky Donor’s Lajpat Nagar we are now in the Bong hub of CR Park. Here Piku (Deepika Padukone) lives with her 70 year old hypochondriac dad (Amitabh Bachchan) along with their house help and the elusive promise of a “perfect poop”. “Motion se hi emotion hai” exclaims Bhashkor Banerjee to his architect daughter Piku.
The father – daughter duo ruminate on poop and while every day the dad fumbles with the problem the daughter grapples with the outcome or rather the lack of it. Constipation is the mainstay of their life together. A road trip to the family house in Kolkata with the “non – Bengali” Mr. Chaudhary (Irrfan Khan) at the wheel proves to be the turning point.
Can Bhashkor Banerjee perform well under-pressure in the loo? Well that certainly is one of the reasons why you should go watch the film. The other has to be to witness some of the most spectacular performances. Amitabh Bachchan perfectly captures the peculiarities of his character. The Deepika – Irrfan chemistry is electrifying. It’s safe to say that Deepika Padukone has delivered her best performance till date.
Watch Piku’s trailer here:
From understanding the intricacies of the Bengali language to using her eyes and dazzling smile to the best possible effect Deepika is simply stunning. Irrfan Khan has the best lines in the film and his performance as usual, precious. Moushumi Chatterjee and Jisshu Sengupta seem at home and ensure the Bengali flavour remains authentic.
For a film about loos, scatological language, clogged drains and ablutions it’s remarkably classy and stench free and for this director Shoojit Sircar and writer Juhi Chaturvedi deserve all the credit. Sans melodrama, to elevate a simple story about bowel movements into a tale of love, family ties and a deep yearning to return to ones roots is certainly special. The bathroom humour ensures we have lots to chuckle about and the subtle hue of nostalgia tugs at our heartstrings.
What a novel idea it is then to go watch a film that is about crap but isn’t crappy at all. Endearing and entertaining with all its eccentricities intact.
I recommend you definitely go for this one.
I’m going with 4/5 QUINTS.
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