Harish Vyas takes a look at
matrimony. Decades ago Basu Bhattacharya made his ‘matrimonial triology’
dealing with Amar and Mansi. This is a return of sorts to the premise. Different.
Very different. Only similar in the basic premise. Strangely Mansi in the Basu
da version sought her space far more clearly and even sternly. The one
comparative distinction is perhaps the city vs the town paradigm.
Moving on, to tell the story: Yashwant Batra (Sanjay Misra) is at the cusp of
his retirement. Living on the banks of Ganga with his wife Kiran (Ekavalli
Khanna) and daughter Preeti (Shivani Raghuvanshu). As a typical middle class
Dad he has no time for romance. He will not accept the brewing romance of his
daughter with the guy in the neighbourhood Jugnu (Anshuman Jha). Life, bereft
of niceties gets mundane and heavy. Relationships are taken for granted like a
morning cup of tea. The drift into the humdrum slowly takes its toll when
expectations differ. Suddenly after two and a half decades Kiran decides to
talk her mind. Pushed to the wall, her endurance tested she calls a spade a
spade. In an unguarded moment Yash decides that he can live without her. A
stunned Kiran returns to her brother Ravi (Imran Zahid) who never approved of
his ‘middle class’ brother-in-law. The family gets together for the wedding of
Preeti. Having performed their parenteral duties, the couple parts ways.
The less than two-hour film that deals with how life is compulsively different
from Mills and Boon could have surely been far more effective. Vyas gets caught
or at least finds it convenient to place himself and his characters in
predictable moulds. The silent dutiful wife. The rebellious daughter, the
obliging suitor and the ‘available and friendly’ neighbour. He then adds a
punch lacking parallel story of Firoz (Pankaj Tripati) who is madly in love
with his terminally ill wife. This super imposed purported tale in contrast
simply fails to fit. The script screams for speed and novelty – both in short
supply.
The main stay of the film is the sincere narrative aptly executed with amazing
dignity by the lead pair – particularly Ekavalli Khanna. The ever-dependable
Sanjay Misra lives up to the expectations. Not reduced to miniscule appearance
he makes right use of the opportunity. Ekavalli is amazing – she gives the role
a high credibility quotient – reminding you of Nimrat Kaur and Tabu. Her
wardrobe warrants special mention. As do Brijendra Kalia and Pankaj Tripati.
The film fails to convert potential into reality. That is its major failure. A
failure you are resigned to like the committed life partner is, in the script.
L. Ravichander