Being different. Review on Being Cyrus

Saif Ali Khan we see today is not just better than what he was, but also at his best. Being Cyrus is another winner for him after Parineeta and Hum Tum. His solo presence was never as effective on screen as it is today. He is undoubtedly the scene stealer here.

The director Homi Adjania deserves an appreciation for making such a film, which is a treat for students of film-making and a different taste of entertainment for the viewers. Call it comic, dark, or a thriller, there is no genre you can fit this into.

A story of a rather dysfunctional Parsi family, the Sethnas, Being Cyrus speaks volumes about the internal layers of a seemingly happy family, and how an individual’s entry unleashes the hidden disharmony among the members. Dinshaw Sethna (Naseerudin Shah) is an eccentric sculptor who stays with his wife Katy (Dimple Kapadia), Farokh, his brother played by Boman Irani and Tina, Farokh’s wife (Simone Singh) and his father.

Cyrus (Saif Khan) is an apprentice with Dinshaw and how his intimacy with Kate unravels the broken threads of the Sethna family is the crux of the story. In the process, you also witness the different shades of Cyrus played by Saif to the gallery. Adultery, greed, complexes, emotional suffocation, everything the human psyche hides is out there without pretensions all through the sequences.

Hat’s off to the maker. It takes guts to expose the complicating layers of human behaviour with such ease and finesse. Naseer is beyond appreciations now; we all know he is a great actor. Dimple looks gorgeous and acts with brilliance. Boman Irani seems to be coming out of the Dr Asthana shell now, finally. Watch Being Cyrus for the sheer pleasure of enjoying the traditional Parsi set up and Saif Khan’s flawless performance.