~Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way~. Review on We Are Family

You may have heard of a laugh fest, maybe even a gore fest, or Oktoberfest. Of all the ‘fests’ you might have heard about, I guarantee that you may not have heard about a cry fest. One of the worst things about big banners is that they always get a wider release but never quite deliver. We are Familytakes you back to the glycerin era, where tears ran rampant from the eyes of the actors, ruining all the makeup in the process. Add to this situation some seriously sordid background scores, exaggerated gestures and strenuous dialogues, and you have what is now fondly called – the ‘overacting’ era. Karan Johar takes you back to the overacting era, with its entire works, albeit, without the overacting. What he failed to realise is that the fault never did lie in the acting. The concept was flawed. Those type of films worked in a certain time period. You can tax the brain to a limited degree; I wouldn’t advise you to willingly mash your brain cells to pulp. In the end, all the glycerin tears are like an overload of Chanel No. 5 – use it wisely and it can really draw you in but be too liberal even the most charismatic perfume can become claustrophobic. You really do feel sad for the makeup artist, all the mascara that could have been saved…

What is wrong with the film?

Urghhh! I would suggest if you are ripping off something, at least do it properly. Even if I leave out the fact that the film is a scene by scene copy (oops, I mean ‘inspiration’) of Stepmom(which was directed by Chris Columbus), there is nothing in the film which can hold the attention of the viewer. This is one of those films where you might go – “Why did you bother?”

Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Arjun Rampal) were married. Now he is about to marry Shreya (Kareena Kapoor). But before he can do that, he has to appease his three kids, Shreya herself and Maya. The kids do not warm up to the idea of a step mother. Maya believes age has been a deciding factor (because Shreya is considerably younger) and Shreya is in no mood to get married. She is the ‘career woman’. You know, the types who want to further their career by putting career before family commitments, but for the sake of happy endings in Hindi movies, they end up getting married anyway! So much for being a ‘career woman’. You might for a second start to believe that Hindi cinema is moving away from clichés and stereotypes, then something like this comes along and all that ‘new age’ cinema garbage goes out the window. We are Familyis also unsuccessful for this very reason – it is step back. It goes back into the stereotypical dump that has got itself attached to Bollywood and what Hindi films are portrayed to be for the global world – all singing and dancing and heaps of emotional atyachar and melodrama. We are Familyis just this – lots and lots of atyachar on the mind. However, if you have chosen to go to the theatre to sleep in the A/C, then I commend you for your choice. Anyway, back to the story. Maya has terrible news to share and her tragedy becomes the catalyst that brings the family together. If I tell you the exact nature of the tragedy you’ll go – “Oh! Not that again!” So I’ll spare you the trouble.

What works?

There are a lot of things that DO NOT work for We are Family,however, acting is not one of them. All the actors, including the kids give commendable performances. Kajol is in the zone as Maya. Her role was burdened with melodramatic sequences that could have been extremely overbearing for the viewer but her presence alone saves the scene. Her character is also the catalyst that takes the narrative forward. Without her in the scene, the narrative stalls. It would not be wrong to suggest that Kajol is the lead for this film. Arjun and Kareena both play second fiddle. This is commendable. I never doubted Kajol’s capability but the fact that a heroine got so much scope and presence in a commercial film is a thing to applaud. Kajol (Maya) is to We are Familywhat Shahrukh (Aman) was to Kal Ho Naa Ho. However, on second thoughts, let’s not even go there. Kal Ho Naa Ho was leagues apart and had poignancy to it which We are Familytries to recreate but fails miserably. What the film becomes is an insurmountable sob fest. You might run out of tissues, but the tears just keep on rolling.

The sidekicks:

Both Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor give commendable performances. Kareena has improvedby leaps and bounds, especially in the sentimental/emotional sequences. In fact, Arjun’s restrained act of a father cum husband cum ex – husband draws the most intense reaction from the viewer. Arjun effortlessly becomes a mirror to a man who is juggling the pressures of having his kids empathise with the situation, please Shreya, whilst also not hurt Maya in the process. He gets the least ‘cry’ time footage wise and maybe that’s why he has an impact. The three actors who play the kids are the most fun to watch because all through this ordeal, they look like they are having the time of their lives. A lesson to be learnt Karan: crying doesn’t always equal emotion.

If the film was interspersed with a few light moments, the impact would have been greater. Colloquial language helps to establish believability of the new age ‘Hinglish’ culture. It was fun seeing Kajol shake what God gave her in the desi rendition of Elvis’ Jailhouse Rock. But apart from that one song, Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy’s music is passé.

Basically, save your time and money, however, if you are daring enough to brave a headache, I’d say flip a coin. But, there is no Johar (Urdu equivalent for ‘skill’) in this one…