STORY: When the Singh family’s 90-year-old matriarch is diagnosed with a tumor, her grandson Amreek takes it upon himself to fulfil her last wish. But soon it turns out to be a near impossible mission that is a race against time with many surprises along the way.
REVIEW: “Homecoming nahi. Home is coming (sic),” says an excited Amreek Singh (Arjun Kapoor), who wants to fulfill his feisty grandmother Rupinder Kaur’s (Neena Gupta) last wish. But it’s a wish that involves reuniting her with her 70-year-old mansion, perched on the other side of the Indo-Pak border, in Lahore. For Amreek, his recent heartbreak makes him realise what longing and closure mean – something his granny has been nursing for decades. But for a hot-tempered Sardar, as the granny is fondly known, nothing is all that simple. When getting a Pakistan visa for her becomes impossible, begins the outlandish journey of bringing the house down to India, instead.
It’s an innovative premise for a riotous comedy, but instead director Kaashvie Nair and her co-writers give us a chaotic film with a mishmash of a screenplay. The film’s story rests heavily on Sardar’s mischievous relationship with her equally loud family and that could have been a source for a lot of organic humour. We see the attempts to bring that out but flat dialogues without the required punches, seldom do the trick.
The film’s idea is novel and far-fetched that required massive cinematic liberties, which the makers duly take. However, for a story that is set on the turbulent past of the two countries and their tricky present, a bulk of the execution comes across as lazy. Like there is one set that is passed off as a busy street in Lahore and the other one as the all-important house. Due to this, the intense emotionality of Sardar’s yearning for it, isn’t felt so strongly.
Arjun Kapoor has quite a task at hand, making us root for Amreek, but is quite average in the emotional scenes. His comic timing isn’t exactly a laugh riot either. Thankfully for Arjun, his scenes with Sardaar, played brilliantly by Neena Gupta are relatable. The veteran actress breathes life into Sardar’s effervescent persona, but we wish her make-up was just as believable. Rakul Preet Singh, who plays Amreek’s love interest Radha, looks glam. She is aptly cast as a vibrant and independent young professional, with a mind of her own. John Abraham and Aditi Rao Hydari come and go in flashes that could have been uplifted with a more solid backstory. The rest of the supporting cast is strong but their characters are clichéd, much like the film’s forced conflict that doesn’t come across as totally convincing.
‘Sardar ka Grandson’ tells a fresh story that has its heart in the right place. It attempts to highlight the emotional connect that runs deep between the two countries, but not all of it hits home.