Kapoor & Sons review :
Take a short vacation to the scenic Coonoor to meet this ultimate dysfunctional family. Truly, every member of the Kapoor clan has his/her own dark secret to guard with insecurities abound. Welcome then to the Karan Johar version of 'Dil Dhadakne Do' (2015) meets 'Monsoon Wedding' (2001).
Let me now have the priviledge of introducing you to each of the family members:
Dadu Kapoor (Rishi Kapoor) : A naughty at 90 grandpa who has fun browsing Mandakini's 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' (1985) videos on his "i-papad" and cheating his friends at a card game, Dadu is the eldest Kapoor who wants his family in a saath saath pose for a family pic.
Rishi Kapoor brilliantly transforms in to a nonagenarian with heavy prosthetics and right body language to deliver a memorable performance.
Harsh Kapoor (Rajat Kapoor) : He's a father of two young sons cheating on his wife and going through a financial downside. Rajat Kapoor, a fine actor that he is, goes through the role effortlessly.
Sunita Kapoor (Ratna Pathak) : She's the lady of the house and under severe emotional stress owing to her husbands suspected infidelity and her sons' sibling rivalry. Ratna Pathak is impressive as ever in a character which is slightly over the top and over reacts most of the time..
Rahul Kapoor (Fawad Khan) : The achcha beta of the family, he's hot in looks and cool in attitude. Nursing a dark secret of his own, Rahul is the catalyst for most of the subplots in the Kapoor story. Fawad Khan has got in to the skin of his character and his is the real standout performance in the movie after Rishi Kapoor. Kudos!
Arjun Kapoor (Siddharth Malhotra) : The punching bag and misunderstood guy in the family, Arjun has been unlucky professionally and trying hard to succeed. His life changes when he meets Tia. Siddharth Malhotra is earnest as Arjun displaying the right amount of restraint and vulnerability.
Tia Mallik (Alia Bhatt) : She's the happy go lucky neighbour of Kapoor's who becomes a bone of contention between the two brothers. Alia Bhatt is pleasing on the eyes and does well whatever is expected out of her.
Director Shakun Batra's second outing after 'Ek Main aur Ekk Tu' (2012) - a film I loved tremondously but didn't get its due, is a cleverly packaged family drama which should strike a chord with the urban classes. Relying more on performances than the script, Kapoor & Sons is a likeable fare. Try it once.
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
