Piku

The legendary Amitji, talented Deepika and the charisma personified Irrfan. All in one movie, arey vah!This is quite possibly their best work yet, and I have seen a number of their work. Piku, on the surface is a movie is about constipation, Bhashkorji's challenge (Amitabh Bachchan); yet its underlying theme is one that resonates with everyone, dealing with not only the aging of our parents but our own mortality. I'm getting a double dose in my personal life with aging parents-in-law as well as parents, and let me tell you that I thought I was patient until now. Over time I have learnt that they can't help it, as the parents themselves come to grips with the aging process. And that is why I love this movie, the storyline manages to capture the points of view of Piku, the child, Bhashkor, the parent and Rana, the outsider looking in- with such impressive balance. The scenes and cinematography are breathtaking, especially in Kolkata. The scenes slowly seep into you and the storyline tugs at your heart string, at your own volition. You find yourself falling in love with each character because of their flaws, rather than despite them. I absolutely recommend this movie again and again. One of the best movies of the year.

Not your typical Bollywood fare. Does it have an actual story? Not really. You get to watch the characters unfold under certain circumstances. Irrfan and AB dazzle (no surprise), but Deepika! Never expected her to hold her own next to those two, but she does, extremely well! You want to give her a hug, shake her, and hide from her, all at the same time! Any one who has grown up with grandparents will watch this movie with great fondness- The kind that comes from the thousand little irritants being far enough away in the past for you to see them as being amusing eccentricities. The movie flows- It's effortless watching. My only grouse with this and every other Indian movie: Please hire decent translators. The kind that know the difference between a weekend meal and a vegan meal. The kind who can use proper grammar and spelling. There will be a lot lost in translation: Basic grammar and spelling should not be.

I'd give the movie 3.5 stars if I could. The storyline is courageously different (an elderly hypochondriac dad's bowel habits are discussed incessantly by all the characters) but a bit too much so. There was room to make the characters deeper; they all stay mostly one-dimensional. But, considering the topic, the movie is surprisingly more than watchable, no question thanks to the director's skills and well-selected actors. I did not care much for the unnecessarily nervous tone and pacing of the movie throughout though. The raised voices rarely calm down and even when they do, the director continues using different-angle cuts every couple of seconds to keep the viewers on their toes. Even though this does create a certain atmosphere, I found it a bit tiring and taking away from the potentially deeper emotional impact.

The reason I love Bollywood movies is the production value, which is high. The scriptwriter (Juhi Chaturvedi) and director (Shoojit Sircar) take the time to develop the characters. This is not a typical Bollywood movie, however, because there is no singing and dancing. This was a study of parent/child relationships and family dynamics, which, regardless of taking place in India or Wisconsin, anyone that is part of a traditional or non-traditional family can relate. Amitabh Bachchan is a superlative actor. He doesn't miss a comic timing beat. Deepika Padukone as a put-upon daughter was wonderful as was Irrfan Khan, the plain-spoken business-owner/browbeaten member of another dysfunctional family. The entire supporting cast are memorable. And, if you've never traveled to India, this is an opportunity to see the shifting landscapes of crowded Delhi roads to Calcutta. Anyone taking care of elderly family members should watch this movie, because, like raising children from babies to adulthood, it all goes by like the blink of an eye. Well done, Shoojit Sircar, excellent, heartfelt and thought-provoking movie inducing a mix of emotions...love, frustration, surrender, regret, hope and more love.

"Piku" is surprisingly different from the average Bollywood movie. Soojit Sircar impresses again after "Vicky Donor". In "Vicky" the Delhi Punjabi vs. Delhi-Bengali dynamic was used to highlight differing attitudes towards sperm donation. In "Piku" it is used to induce comic (and gastric) relief.Amitabh is delightful as an obdurate all knowing caricature of an older Bengali gentleman. You forget that he's Amitabh and very quickly begin to bristle at his character's antics. Irfan puts in another solid performance as a Delhi native who is perplexed by the father daughter dynamic and exhibits minor resentment and self pity. Deepika also carries her role as a frustrated, frustrating and yet loving daughter torn between living her life and living for her father.

Just leave it to Bollywood to make an entire film around bathroom humor and somehow keeping me delightfully entertained. Amitabh Bachan is not just an icon, I think he is the current spiritual living icon for the whole country , and his performance shows that it is well deserved. Deepika Padukone is a fierce actress with perhaps the most beautiful smile in all of the wide world wide of show business ,she also has serious acting chops. But, the glue that keeps it all together for me , was Irrfhan Khan, who I have seen in other movies ,however he somehow keeps this continual assault of gastric disturbances from becoming too silly and maudlin. Somehow he projects an extraordinary depth and wonderment at this daughter father relationship which is truly hilarious. A comic gem behind a wide eyed observor. He also somehow holds the humanity of the whole work in the palm of his hand , connecting each character to one another in a way that otherwise , I do not think a lesser actor could havd done. Maybe Ranbir Kapoor, but no, Irrfhan has hit a home run.

The cast are excellent but I do not like jokes based on constipation, or the constant family bickering like in an episode of "Eastenders". There is nothing ennobling about this. I found it sad that this bright woman is trapped in a situation because her father is trapped in a situation. How is that comedy? As tragedy, it's hardly King Lear. The script is just terrible. If they want to write a feminist story, it must be possible to avoid lavatory discussions in it. I think they just wanted to write a lavatory story, in which the loo was the star. My copy stopped working about half an hour into the plot, so I saw that portion about 4 times and gave up.

There are quite long sections of this film where the subtitles (which are in white) are on a very pale background so you cannot read them, which for us has spoilt the film as we were guessing what was being said.If they had been in a black box then it would have been readable all throughout the film.

Fantastic film about parent relationship. Both stubborn and hilarious. Enjoyed it and glad the father met his match with the taxi owner! Ha

Really well acted and so good I bought it for my parents as the main character is a typical Asian father! Haha it's very comical

Excellent service by Elitevilla and the film was good too. Thoroughly enjoyed it.