Piku (2015)

Am I Missing Something?

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Loved Piku! Piku is a work of sheer brilliance. Be it direction, music, acting, story, casting. To summarise, its a story of an attention-seeking father and a daughter. But then come the elements that add sweetness to the movie. Be it Big B's cute looks, his acting, or piku-baba adorable scenes, where deepika spends time and takes care of his intolerable father. Throughout the movie, you will surely have a smile on your face and you will never get bored!The dialogues are amazing and are well executed. Irrfan khan enters at the right moment and its like a feather on a cap. This trio (Big B, Deepika, Irrfan) delivers an amazing story line. It brings out the truth that every teenager goes through while handling their parents. Everyone looks fantastic and the locations chosen or the scenes shot in delhi, or kolkata add essence to the movie. The songs, be it the journey song, or the piku title song, have the prefect lyrics.Flawless movie, can watch it N number of times, with anyone!

Piku unpretentiously painted a portrait of an average upper middle class family. Amitabh Bachan acted as a retired father and widower who still enjoyed spending time with his daughter while battling health issues. Deepika Padukone's role as the daughter involved hilarious exchanges with her father and other employees of their family. Irrfan Khan's character managed ferrying Amitabh and Deepika in his taxi after being under fire from his mother and sister to do business. Shoojit Sircar delivered a truly simple yet effectual Bollywood film considering the lack of dance numbers and villains. Juhi Chaturvedi sprinkled this award winning hit with lively witticisms for plenty of laughs to accompany the distresses of reality.

Piku is undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of craft of the recent years. The film is a great amalgamation of brilliant performances, great storyline and direction, well written scenes, soothing background score and author backed characters. The film basically explores the relation of an ageing cantankerous father, Bhaskor Benerjee, having constipation problems and other health issues and a modern, fearless, confident, independent, multi-tasker daughter, Piku, he completely depends on. These parts are played to perfection by the legendary Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone respectively. The other pivotal character in the film is that of Irrfan who plays the owner of a taxi agency, Rana Chaudhury. The initial part of the film invests on building up the characters. The conversations and arguments between Bhaskor and Rana during the road trip are hilarious, specially the one in which Rana describes Bhaskor about the benefit of Indian sanitary system. The gradual shift from a tensed relation between Rana and Piku to a relation with a lot of mutual love, respect and understanding is also one of the highlights of the film.Piku is definitely a triumph of writing. There is not really any plot to speak of. But in spite of that Juhi Chaturvedi, who has written the screenplay and the dialogues, creates such strong characters that we do not lose interest in any point of time. The dialogues are written in a way that the lines hit us as normal conversations, not as typical filmy dialogues. The depiction of the fights Piku and her Baba have is so real that an audience finds an analogy to their day-to-day life situations. The amazing thing about Bhaskor is that he is so irritating that it's almost adorable. Moreover, the toilet humour used in the film never goes to a sleazy level crossing the line. Bhaskor's constipation issues are very much part of his character and it is being used in the film in a very intelligent and delicate way.Director Shoojit Sircar excels in his job. He does full justice to the wonderful script presented to him by Juhi Chaturvedi. He tells the story in the most simplistic way possible, without hampering the depth of the story. The director has to be an obtrusive observer of human behaviour, otherwise he would not have been able to create his central characters with that much of minute attributes. In the midst of all the crazy fights, constipation conversations and messy characters, director Shoojit Sircar perfectly forms an emotional base for the story. He makes his actors express a lot without uttering any words. There are so many things in the film which are left unsaid and that make the film even more memorable. The scene where Bhaskor falls ill and Piku is sitting next to him, the conversation between Piku and Rana discussing about her marriage, the whole sequence towards the end where Rana is about to leave- are some of the bests of the lot. The subtle, understated romantic tone Rana and Piku's conversations has is definitely the X-factor for me in the film.The power packed performances by the actors, especially the central three, lifted the film to a different level altogether. At the age of 72, Mr. Bachchan yet again creates pure magic and adds another star to his tally of great performances. His portrayal of Bhaskor Benerjee seems so real that never for a moment we are bound to realize that we are watching the mega-star himself on screen, not Bhaskor. Irrfan, as usual, is characteristically flawless. His understanding of the nuances of his character is amazing and he does his job in a way only he can. Despite of a less author-backed role, he imbues his role with much authenticity and gives the narrative its consistency. His eyes do most of the talking. But the surprise package for me has to be Deepika's performance. She was put there, in the same frame, with two of the greatest actors our country has ever produced and yet, she doesn't hit a false note even for once. Piku's character looks simple to pull off, but it is actually a complex role and Deepika beautifully plays it with immense ease. Her character will definitely remind you of all your women friends who are independent, have a mind of their own and do not allow anyone to dictate their lives. The supporting cast also fit into the story perfectly, especially Bodan, Bhaskor's personal caretaker. The melodious score by Anupam Roy adds to the beauty of this lovely tale.The beauty of Piku lies not in the story but the way it is told. It shows that mind-boggling stories with twists and turns are not needed to make an impact on the silver screen. In fact it is one of those endearing narratives where the actors' abilities to make the characters look believable and nuanced ways in which the director tells the tale overpowers the predictable storyline. A woman's free spirit and strength, an old father's love for his daughter which goes on to a level of obsession and dependence, children's hidden care and responsibilities for their parents, a young man seeking peace and his dreams, families and their foibles- all these ingredients are served to us wrapped up with a great sense of humour and wit in a perfect meal avoiding the clichés of typical Hindi movies. Piku will make you guffaw and make you weep. It will make you think and understand life better. It will make you love your families and yourself more. But it will make sure that when you walk out of the theater, you walk out with a smile and a sense satisfaction.

First thing that came into my mind was Paa since I've known this movie. Everywhere there were some comparisons made regarding the plot and Amitabh's acting. But somewhere it was known that from a different director, this should be different. Fortunately it was distinct in all possible good ways. Plot was very simple, but at the same time it was intelligent. There were no pieces left in maneuvering the movie and each part was brilliantly taken care of. Certainly very nicely and cutely executed story. There were nice dialogues, enriching movie flow but after the first half, only thing that bothered was the motive behind the movie. In the end it was found out that there was not much motive but the journey itself was the crux of the movie. On top of it, the ending was icing on the cake that was certainly delicious.Amitabh Bachchan. Ohh I'm sorry, SIR AMITABH BACHCHAN. I know it doesn't matter but when Sir will be used in maggy reviews, it will refer to only this amazing actor. Sir's acting yet again made me fell in love with him. The way the character was caught and the way each and every dialogue and movement was performed was remarkable. Sir took the meaning of "Giving life to character" to a different level. To a level that only by seeing the character's clothes, you can imagine sir and the whole story of the movie. Not to forget Irrfan and Deepika who amazingly supported throughout. Irrfan had his share of amazing performance and unquestionably was bang on all through.Shoojit yet again proved that he can deliver different, strong and entertaining movies every time. After Vicky Donor, expectations will always be high from him and he has stood out proudly this time. I'll give him full credit of making the overall movie fascinating. Certainly one of the best directed movie in recent times.Background score was not used much but was very charming whenever used.Overall, a wonderfully directed amazing journey of a man where the Man kills it yet again.