A really warm movie that struck a chord in me. Again this movie is about an American joint family with grandparents, single mother, uncle, aunt, cousins all living under one roof. The central theme is of a boy whose father works in the radio – but isn’t there for the boy as a father. The story is how his uncle fills in for the missing father and how the bar that his uncle owns : The Dickens – plays an important part in the plot.
When the boy grows, gets admitted to Yale, goes on to work in the New York Times and decides to also be a “writer” as a side hustle – we all root for the boys success. When he gets dumped multiple times by the same girl – you can feel the despair that the boy goes through. The trailer of the movie has this quotation:
Between the ones who Love You and the ones who Leave You Is the Journey of a Lifetime
Despite his mother moving away from the toxicity of his father and he himself being ‘used’ by his girlfriend – he still has people and family around him who care for him and who guide him through life. Its more a coming-of-age movie that warms your heart.
We all need family and friends who can support us and with whom we can build genuine life long relationships. We need people who genuinely want us to thrive and do well in life – and who will stand by us through thick and thin. A lot of times kids don’t have a choice of the people around them – especially family. But some lucky ones do.
This movie was one that moved me to tears. Although there’s been mixed reviews from others – I ended up re-watching this movie 4 times!!! The central theme of the movie is around child adoption and the search for your biological roots.
But first lets start giving credits. Pramod Panju has done a stellar performance. Despite the presence of heavy weights like Umashree and Shruti – he really shines. He outshines the central protagonist Dhananjay.
Having said that Umashree, Shruti and Dhananjay have essayed their roles to perfection. Umashree as a brahmin widow who uses cuss words with aplomb. The screenplay is so good – that the cuss words are those that are mostly used by those from the brahmin community.
The character portrayed by Umashree – where she loves her adopted son as much as her biological son and feels pride in his accomplishments : warms your heart. Despite her boorish behavior, which annoys her two sons , she comes through to the audience very well.
Shruti, Achyuth Kumar and Pramod Panju have done brilliantly as the mother, father, son trio. The rural settings of north Karnataka and its culture is very well brought forth. The problems faced by childless couples in the village and their desperation to have children is equally well portrayed. The dialogues between Shruti and Pramod give the same message from a different angle – about adopted parents being no less important in one’s life (as long as they treat you as one of your own)
And then there is Anu Prabhakar – who does not like her biological mother : since she would have been sold for money to another childless couple. But there is no bitterness in her as she comes to accept her new religion, parents and siblings.
There are no negative characters in this movie. Its all about one’s search for what you think you don’t have or where you think you belong and where your identity lies.
These themes play out in life quite a bit – where children of divorced parents : get curious about the ‘other’ parent missing in their life. A lot of times the active parent and people around them would have ingrained negative narratives about the missing parent into the child’s mind – that they always think that the ‘other’ is bad or is a villain. Sadly it takes a long time for the child to realize that there is always another side to the story . It could well be that the active parent and people around them are much more of a villain in reality. Young minds are so impressionable!!! Also more often than not the ‘other’ parent also thinks about the child whose childhood was lost to them – and would commemorate the child’s birthday is their own unique way. Sometimes even holding on to clothes of the child when they were little.
Five movies come to my mind when it comes to what I just spoke about:
a. “Zindagi Na Milega Dobara” where Farhan Akthar travells to Spain in search of Naseerudin Shah (his biological father) and the dialogue where he asks him about the truth
b. August : Osage County . I’ve posted about this movie in one of my previous blog posts . As I mentioned there – its about realizing the toxicity of certain families or individuals in certain families and staying away from them.
c. Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX) . The very last scene where Rey buries the light saber’s of Luke and Leia Skywalker on Tatooine (where Luke grew up). She identifies herself as Rey Skywalker when someone asks her about her last name. Despite being from the Palpatine bloodline – she is able to create an identity for oneself and accepts her mentors as her parents.
d. Rathnan Prapancha
e. Tender Bar . This would be my next blog post. A really heart warming movie about children from broken families who go on to succeed and shine – with the influence of good role models around them. Tender Bar is the very anti-thesis of August : Osage County.
Life.. 