We Are Family (2010)

A divorced mother of three children runs a happy household - until her former husband brings his new career-oriented girlfriend into the picture.

Director:

Siddharth Malhotra (as Siddharth P. Malhotra)

Writer:

Niranjan Iyengar (dialogue)

Stars:

Kareena Kapoor, Kajol, Arjun Rampal

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kareena Kapoor	...	Shreya
Kajol	...	Maya
Arjun Rampal	...	Aman
Amrita Prakash	...	Elder Aaliya
Iravati Harshe	...	Dr. Rati Malhotra
Diya Sonecha	...	Anjali
Aachal Munjal	...	Aaliya (as Aanchal Munjal)
Harry Key	...	Stage Manager
Nominath Ginsberg	...	Ankush

Storyline

Maya (Kajol) is based in Sydney, has been separated from her husband, Aman (Arjun Rampal), and lives with her school-going children: Aaliya, Ankush, and Anjali. Aman is in love with fashion designer, Shreya Arora (Kareena Kapoor), and plans to marry her soon. His attempts to introduce her to his family fall apart several times as his children and Maya dislike her, and have nicknamed her 'Daayan' (witch). Things change after Maya is diagnosed with cervical cancer, is told that she does not have very long to live, and undertakes to find a suitable step-mom for her children.

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | stepchild | remake | photographer | female bonding | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

India Australia

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

10 September 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Egy család vagyunk

Filming Locations:

Darling Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$366,354, 5 September 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$631,276, 26 September 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia,Dharma Productions,Films & Casting Temple Pvt. Ltd. Sydney

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film to pair Arjun opposite Kajol and Kareena.

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Connections

Remake of Stepmom (1998)

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Soundtracks

We Are Family - Theme
Composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (India) Pvt. Ltd.

User Reviews

Step in

We Are Family is an official remake of the famous 1998 Hollywood movie Stepmom. The story of the film is just perfect for a Hindi film because that's what Indian audiences like and can relate to. I never understood, why bother to remake a film which in itself was not particularly great, but the movie certainly lacks the verve of Stepmom and as expected it resorts to sentimentality far more often. I did not expect much from We Are Family, and it was just the way I thought it would be. The movie is a melodramatic tearjerker of its sort. It is of course much more realistic in its overall portrayal but there too it had its share of loopholes, being a tad too dated and conservative for its time.

The film is of course highly predictable, but it has its touching moments from time to time despite being generally unconvincing. At first the film was really poorly developed and later on it turned into a very sentimental and emotionally unrestrained tale which is fairly enjoyable and occasionally moving but never particularly memorable. Towards the second half, the film has a very familiar Kal Ho Naa Ho feel to it, but while the latter was flavoured with great comedy and a witty touch of New York's realism, We Are Family sometimes lacks soul. In its favour it can be said that it's focused, but at the same time it's a bit too long for the story it tells, although not very long per se, where Hindi film parameters are concerned.

One of the main reasons I decided to go through the film was of course the casting. Kajol leads the film with a heartfelt and natural performance which is compelling and moving. Kareena Kapoor supports really well in a restrained act, but at times I felt the story did not dig enough into her character's thoughts, dilemmas and fears before she took the decision to do what she did, and that's one of the examples of the faulty script. Arjun Rampal is convincing as the caring ex-husband. Among the kids, they're above average to okay but the cute-as-a-button Diya Sonecha was really likable, even if not particularly for her acting. She at times reminded me of the adorable little kid playing the younger daughter in Shekhar Kapur's classic Masoom.

Many movies have shown films about families in times of trouble and their way of dealing with it together, whether it's Terms of Endearment, Stepmom or the Indian movies Anuraag, Kaash. We Are Family is one of them. I still wonder why it was so necessary to make it, and though it generally lacks the power to captivate and stay with you after the show has ended and is lacking in substance, it's still a well-acted and generally watchable movie despite its flaws.