An emotionally draining and yet not over-the-top drama that peeks inside the turbulence of the family bonds of the Kapoor’s. Mind you, it’s the least bit dysfunctional. You’ll get glimpses of your own, your grandparents, the perceived “favoritism” by parents, fights between siblings, the discords, and of course the love. The Kapoor family has it all.
The plot centres around the 95-year old Sr. Kapoor, played by the amazing Rishi Kapoor, who is simply the coolest grandpa you’ll come across. His ultimate wish is to have a family photograph for which he summons everyone back to Conoor, the beautiful hill station near Ooty. How his two grandsons come back from abroad, their unspoken brewing discord, to visit their grandpa. How his son’s financial and marital issues pops up new fight scenes and how in the middle of it all, everyone seems to be lying about something or the other.
The star of the movie is the amazing screenplay which binds the complexities like beads of a non-matching rosary which works in a charming way. Apart from that, the characters’ effortless performances involves the audience in the story. You laugh, feel, smile and even cry as they take you through this amazing journey.
The film is close to 2 and a half hours and yet there’s hardly anything which gives the impression of just having pushed in there. The flow is justified by the buildup each portion requires. The credit goes to the ensemble cast as a whole. Although Rajat Kapoor and Fawad Khan deserve special mention. Rajat brings out the troubling mid-life crisis onto the screen perfectly and does that so effortlessly. Fawad is superb in doing complete justice to the character and his screen presence is unmatchable. This Pakistani actor can make a lot of Bollywood actors run for their money.
Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor and Ratna Pathak make it worth the time and are equally great. Siddharth Malhotra appeared a little out of place in a few scenes, although it might also be due to being overshadowed by a great cast. He has a long way to go.
The music by Armaan Malick (& others) is good, but it is the background music which brings a lot of value to the finished product on screen.
Kapoor and Sons’ Director Shakun Batra, in only his second Directorial venture after Ekk main aur Ek tu, deserves a pat on his back for doing justice to the story and the starcast.
Kapoor and Sons is Drama that works in connecting your own self with the character plots and remembering your own family. This might well be the Piku of 2016. I’m going with a 5/5 for this flawless emotional adventure which is filled with some amazing light hearted moments that will press the nostalgic buttons in your head and make you laugh and cry at the same time. Yes, it’s perfect. Go and Watch it.