‘Kapoor & Sons’ Movie Review : Rishi Kapoor is the only saviour

Directed by: Shakun Batra
Produced by: Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Alia Bhatt
Duration: 2 hours 12 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 1.5/5

Two miffed brothers, a husband caught in an extramarital relationship, a furious wife and an old father who tries to keep the family united, Shakun Batra’s ‘Kapoor & Sons’ has very less of a story and thus appears to be a forced attempt of storytelling.

Rahul (Fawad Khan) and Arjun (Sidharth Malhotra) are two brothers; the first one is a published author while the second one is an aspiring one. Rahul has apparently stolen Arjun’s novel’s plot and opted for a short cut to fame. Meanwhile, they both meet Tia (Alia Bhatt) and become friends. While Arjun and Tia are slowly falling in love, a drunk Rahul and an equally drunk Tia accidentally kiss each other. This gets on Arjun’s nerves and he stops contacting her. Meanwhile, Rahul turns out to be a gay which is a great shock to the family. Their father (Rajat Kapoor) is caught in an extramarital relationship and soon after an ugly face off at home, dies in a car accident. Rishi Kapoor is the head of the family; an old jovial chilled out former army officer who wants to keep the family happy and together.

The film literally revolves around a family and its problems; financial strains, complicated relationships, mindsets. Everything together makes it a complete emotional tantrum. There are layers of stories but none of them are interpreted in a neat and clean manner.

A homosexual Fawad Khan’s story of living his entire life suppressing his own sexual identity could absolutely add to the dimensions of the film, but remains ignored. There’s no concrete message that the film wants to give away, and thus the development in the story is vague and almost unidentifiable. After a point, the emotional mess is unbearable.

A veteran actor like Rajat Kapoor gets very little to act. Fawad Khan is good, while Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt are just alright.

However, the best part about the film is Rishi Kapoor. We have not seen such an intense, effective aged character in a Bollywood film for a long time. This man has brought a diverse character to life and how we loved it! He, in fact, is a saviour and we look up to him to measure the moments and their intensity; something that the rest of the film almost fails to build up.

about the songs, apart from ‘Kar Gayi Chull’ which is a nice peppy number and ‘Bol Na’ which decorates the romantic exchanges of Alia and Sidharth nicely, other tracks aren’t really going to stay in your mind.

You aren’t going to miss anything out if you give it a miss. However, Rishi Kapoor’s fans, give it a go only for the man!

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.