Okay, let me first say that I loved the performance of all 3 leads. Really enjoyed the witty dialogues and some interactions between characters were genuinely funny.
But where the move really fails for me is the logic. The point it tries to make is elders often lack support and warmth from their adult children, and are often mistreated/disrespected by them.
This would have actually worked if they showed any form of serious mistreatment from Ajay and Alka towards Manubhai. I didn't see a single instance where Manubhai wasn't taken care of, and the demands that his son and daughter-in-law had were actually not unreasonable at all.
On the contrary, we see Manubhai disrespecting Alka on several instances, and his behavior is shown to be actually quite annoying and manipulative.
It's really hard to empathize with his character because of this. He did make a few good points regarding being smart with your finances, etc. But everything else was just plain stupidity.
When a biased one-sided story like this is perceived as one that creates awareness for a household social issue, it is important that it is made from an actually unbiased point of view - which this story hugely lacks. This is especially important in Indian societies, where many households are severely toxic in this respect.
Movies like these have to be an example of an ideal, mentally healthy family that reasonably solves problems like these, instead of blaming/gaslighting and manipulating the younger generation for doing something they didn't really do. If not, at least have a character arc that shows a character growing from being toxic to being understanding and empathetic - and this applies to both the older and younger generations.
Good examples of these include What the Folks, TVF Tripling, etc.
Also genre-wise, the transition from comedy to a murder mystery to a family drama doesn't really sit well with this story. It finds itself getting pulled in all these directions simultaneously, and it doesn't do justice to either one of them.
But where the move really fails for me is the logic. The point it tries to make is elders often lack support and warmth from their adult children, and are often mistreated/disrespected by them.
This would have actually worked if they showed any form of serious mistreatment from Ajay and Alka towards Manubhai. I didn't see a single instance where Manubhai wasn't taken care of, and the demands that his son and daughter-in-law had were actually not unreasonable at all.
On the contrary, we see Manubhai disrespecting Alka on several instances, and his behavior is shown to be actually quite annoying and manipulative.
It's really hard to empathize with his character because of this. He did make a few good points regarding being smart with your finances, etc. But everything else was just plain stupidity.
When a biased one-sided story like this is perceived as one that creates awareness for a household social issue, it is important that it is made from an actually unbiased point of view - which this story hugely lacks. This is especially important in Indian societies, where many households are severely toxic in this respect.
Movies like these have to be an example of an ideal, mentally healthy family that reasonably solves problems like these, instead of blaming/gaslighting and manipulating the younger generation for doing something they didn't really do. If not, at least have a character arc that shows a character growing from being toxic to being understanding and empathetic - and this applies to both the older and younger generations.
Good examples of these include What the Folks, TVF Tripling, etc.
Also genre-wise, the transition from comedy to a murder mystery to a family drama doesn't really sit well with this story. It finds itself getting pulled in all these directions simultaneously, and it doesn't do justice to either one of them.