This college drama has a very relevant message woven in an engaging story that takes you on an emotional ride complete with chuckles, cackles, tears and leaves you discussing the thought-provoking message.
The story opens with middle-aged Maya (Shraddha)and Anni (Sushant) who are hurled into emotional trauma when their young son’s life is at tenterhooks because of the pressure of clearing engineering entrance exam.
The movie runs back and forth with flashbacks of their college life when Anni, through his hostel stories, wants to convey the message of how to deal with the fear of being a loser and how, not winning does not translate to being a loser.
His old gang comes together in his difficult phase, rock-solid as moral support.
The writer-director Nitesh Kumar has done a fairly good job with Piyush Gupta and Nikhil Malhotra to create a very pleasing and entertaining story.
You can relate to the angst of the youngsters with their results anxiety and fears. You can relate to the complexities for parents to be able to deal with it. They strike the right emotional chord.
When the flashbacks show the hostel life, its a trip down the memory lane. The dialogues, the humour,the comic punches, the camaraderie, the double meaning entendre’s, the fun, the masti, keep you thoroughly entertained, chuckling and often in splits.
Pritam (music)and Amitabh Bhattacharya(lyrics) have teamed up well to give melodious and meaningful songs that blend well with the narrative.
Speaking of Performances, I would have to give the first credits to the supporting cast who were brilliant and were the pillars in bringing to life this otherwise “ seen before “ narrative.
Varun Sharma (Sexa) was the brightest of all, in his best performance till date. He not only had the best punches but also gave his best.
Naveen Polishetty (Acid) made an impressive Bollywood debut. Tushar Pandey( Mummy), Saharsh Pandey ( Bevda) were impressive too. Tahir Raj Bhasin (Derek) always stands out with his intensity.
Prateik Babbar( Raggie) seemed to be in form after a long time. Shraddha just abt managed to pull it off, my expectations never being too high from her. Sushant was good as a young Anni but quite ill at ease in his older avatar. and left much to be asked for. Honestly, we have seen him do much better.
As far as the critical analysis goes, the film slightly flounders in places. The championship subplots could have been smoother. The aged look they gave to the team was not convincing enough. Its not an era where receding hairline is primary to depicting forty pluses. Prosthetics team did a bad job too.
To be able to judge this film honestly, one has to keep aside the comparisons. Just because there have been an iconic “ 3 idiots “, doesn’t mean each film that has a similar theme needs to measure up to it.
Accepted, writers have not come up with something out of the box. Accepted, that the director has not swept us off the floor, as in Dangal.
But the team had its heart in the right place. And they have been able to convey that in a loveable story that makes you laugh, cry and leave you thinking.
They entertain you with the past and set you thinking for the present. And those are reasons enough for you to go and watch it.
Score 8 on 10