The Great Indian Family (2023) :
Movie Review -
After three back-to-back action-driven films with YRF, Vijay Krishna Acharya finally comes to a simple zone with "The Great Indian Family," starring Vicky Kaushal, Manushi Chhillar, Manoj Pahwa, and Kumud Mishra. The idea of family dramas was stuck to melodrama and tragedies in the 90s-a decade that gave us blockbusters like "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" and "Hum Saath Saath Hain". We had a few modern family flicks in the 2000s, and then the 2010s decade hardly had any films to remember. Way back in the 60s and 70s, we saw the best of the family dramas, which pioneered major conflicts for melodramas and tragedies. This Victor's family drama is set in the modern era by following all the traditional stereotypes of melodrama and tragedies but setting itself away from stereotypes with a sensitive twist on religious hatred/unity. It does not shine while dealing with the storytelling methods, but it does look brave while dealing with the sensitivity of the subject. One might be aware of this conflict of religion between biological identity vs. Assumed identity from Paresh Rawal and Annu Kapoor's social comedy drama "Dharam Sankat Mein" (2015), which was a remake of the British flick "The Infidel" (2010). The boy is born to a Muslim mother but has grown up in a Hindu family-that's the conflict and that's the twist, but here we have an edge of Pujari's reference. See, the idea is good, sensitive, and challenging, but Acharya clearly fails to understand the potential and real value of the subject.
Bhajan Kumar (Vicky Kaushal) is a famous Jagarata singer in the town who belongs to Tripathi Pujari's family. He hates his family and that "democratic" government at the House for several reasons since childhood. From going bald reluctantly to becoming a Jagrata singer by his choice, Bhajan finishes his backstory sooner than expected. He meets a Sikh girl, Jasmeet (Manushi Chhillar), under bad circumstances, and while trying to make it up with her, he falls in love with her. Bhajan's close friend is also in love with the same girl, and so they have a fight. One day, Bhajan Kumar receives a letter saying that he is a Mohammedan. Now this is a big stigma for his family since they are the top pujaris in the town. After a healthy and sentimental argument with his family members in the absence of his father, Bhajan decides to leave the house to keep them happy. The journey of finding his own religion and learning new methods of life begins for Bhajan Kumar, and that makes him and his family the talk of the town. Will he find what he's looking for? Will he understand what family and relationships are?
TGIF has a fantastic basic idea, but the tower above is petty. Right from the first scene, you hear loud background scores and melodramatic music while introducing every character and showing every important scene. It's not the 80s or 90s, but why do we have to remind almost every filmmaker of this in 2023? A few humorous dialogues build a light atmosphere around them, even though some of them are spoofy. For instance, Ranbir Kapoor's name, Bhajan feeling like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh's voice, and especially that one scene when Bhajan, aka Vicky, says, "Surgical strike," referring to his biggest blockbuster, "Uri", and then starts a scooty in Dhoom mode with a background score of "Ek Tha Tiger". Spy-universe should be too small in front of this multiverse of YRF, I guess. The first half sets the twists nicely, despite weak storytelling. The second half is more dramatic and sensitive but is handled poorly. It's not a miss; it's a mess! The former term would have been okay looking at contemporary films, but the latter one isn't forgivable.
Vicky Kaushal plays a wannabe quintessential hero in his YRF debut. Don't know; some kind of forced heroism is there that kept me away from the character. He looks more cute and handsome with that clean-shaved face, though. But performance-wise, it's a strictly decent show. Nobody had expected this, including me, but the real hero of the film is Kumud Mishra. He has all the heroine scenes that elevate the character graph and mass appeal amongst the audience. Kumud is the head of the family, and he is the captain leading from the front. Manushi Chhillar looks beautiful, but what's new about that? She has been looking the same since her days at Miss Universe and even before that. Where is the strong performance and the heroine material, I ask? Manoj Pahwa is too experienced to be judged by any critic, as he must be aware of almost every kind of character by now. He is overshadowed by Kumud Mishra here, but I don't think it's a bad thing at all. He does what is expected to be done, and that's enough. Yashpal Sharma is delightful as the antagonist, while Alka Amin, Sadiya Siddiqui, Shrishti Dixit, Vedant Sinha, Bhuvan Arora, Aasif Khan, and others are okay in the supporting roles.
The Great Indian Family should have had better music, as I believe family dramas have always been loaded with good music. "Kanhaiya Twitter Pe Aaja" is quite a modern song and somewhat unique too, but other numbers are disappointing. The choreography in the Kanhaiya song is impressive. TGIF is mostly set in the town, and the production design and cinematography have been good, while the outdoor shots of bridges, rivers, and temples are even more eye-catching. The editing makes sure that you don't feel bored in those two hours; it doesn't matter if it's not a sensible film to watch. Vijay Krishna Acharya is fond of twists and turns, so he feeds his favourite dish to us again without thinking of the genre. Family dramas are more about emotions and simple understanding than sensational stuff, but he doesn't seem to agree with it. It's his baby, after all. He could have brought it up to become an intellectual child; rather, he preferred to make him a mainstream entertainer with subconsciously blind sentiments. TGIF could have ended up as an average flick if Victor could have found a more logical last quarter. Those last 30 minutes destroyed all chances of a decent watch with illogical actions and the unsympathetic behaviour of characters. The differentiation between Hindu and Muslim people needed a better commentary than this. You can't try to tackle such a sensitive issue with childish humour and illogical segments. The same subject could have easily had a better screenplay and better direction, and then, I think, we would have had a better film. As a whole, it's a great subject with an ungreat vision.
RATING - 4/10*
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