A beautiful and calming story. Outstanding and brilliant in every aspect. Three characters, each with their unique flavour. Deepika does a flawless job portraying a strong, independent, unyielding Bengali woman. Never for a moment do you feel that the woman playing the character is not Bengali. The chemistry between Deepika and Irrfan is sparkling.
Irrfan Khan, a late great, needs no further introduction. There has never been anyone like him and don’t believe there will ever be anyone like him again.
Mr Bachchan’s performance is another reason why this man is a national treasure and aptly called “Superstar of the Millennium”. His acting is so natural, feels pure and flows without hindrance.
Piku Banerjee, an architect, lives in Delhi with her father Bhashkor, a 70 years old widower. Bhashkor is a chronically constipated hypochondriac who attributes every ailment to his bowel motions. His habits often lead to quarrels with Piku, the servants, and Chhobi Mashi, Piku’s maternal aunt, who often visits them. Piku loves her father and looks after him well, although she is frequently very irritated by his idiosyncrasies. She has a close friendship with her co-worker Syed Afroz, and frequently uses the cab service owned by Syed’s friend Rana Chaudhary. Piku repeatedly gets into arguments with Rana’s taxi drivers during her morning commute. She is regularly stressed both by her job and by her father’s finicky behaviour.
Piku wants to sell Champakunj, their ancestral home in Kolkata. Bhashkor strongly objects and decides to travel to Kolkata. After a recent health scare, Piku is unable to let him travel alone and plans to accompany him. Bhashkor refuses all modes of travel other than by car, citing his constipation as the reason. All of Rana’s hired drivers refused to take Piku because of her issues with almost all of them. When Piku tries to book a flight to Kolkata, Rana shows up at their house and drives the family to Kolkata by himself without informing his mother or sister about the trip.
The real fun begins on the drive to Kolkata. The brazen and unflinchingly honest taxi stand owner is the perfect foil to his passengers; the socially awkward father and his difficult daughter.
The group runs across numerous problems along the journey, and Rana is on the edge of losing tolerance for Bhashkor’s fussiness and constipation. He was the only person who seemed to be able to deal with Deepika’s father and understood her like no one else. Spending time together in the city allows Piku and Rana to become closer over time. Rana also gives her a subtle warning not to sell the ancestral house. When Piku asks him to stay back for a couple more days, that’s her way of confessing she likes him a lot. Remember that this is an uncompromising and unyielding woman who doesn’t believe in second chances and someone who wouldn’t even pick up the phone of her business partner if she didn’t feel like it.
Once Rana leaves Kolkata, Piku changes her mind and chooses against selling the house. Bhashkor’s sudden desire to bicycle grows as he cycles through a lonely section of the city, making everyone uncomfortable because he didn’t inform them about it. Bhashkor merely says that his constipation is cleared and he needs to bicycle every day when Piku chastises him for eating street food and for being careless when he returns. He recalls Rana telling him to eat everything and not be picky or selective about food. Piku was secretly happy but does not emote much.
The next day, everyone discovers that Bhashkor has died in his sleep, probably because of sleep apnea or cardiac arrhythmia. Piku states that he always wanted a peaceful death. She returns to Delhi, where she arranges his funeral. A few days later, she pays up whatever due she owes Rana and finally, she renames the Delhi house “Bhashkor Villa” in her father’s memory.
The soul of the movie is the connection between the father and daughter, which reveals how strongly parent-centred Indian society is in comparison to other cultures. Piku has the most subtle love story we have seen on screen in some time.
Finally, Hats off to: –
The excellent casting
Outstanding performances
Witty yet natural dialogues
Relaxed pace
