Well, thank god for a few small things. Alia Bhatt's performance is good, if not great. She's proved, time & again, that her talent, as evidenced from her turns in 'Highway' & 'Udta Punjab', is no flash-in-the-pan.
When the 'being Lebanese' joke played itself out, I wondered if Gauri Shinde watched the same comedy show I'd done, where a class-act Stand-up comedienne from Bengaluru had used (created?) the same schtick in her act about a mother and daughter discovering mature content (actually, mom doing the honors and putting the beti on the back foot) on the internet.
Until then, I was wondering where all of this was meandering, but then, I almost felt that this was a lost cause, in spite of director Shinde's excellent work begins the camera in 'English Vinglish', to which there's a strange & unnecessary callback.
Other than the editing & the strangely insipid score, the work done on the technical areas tries to detract from how flat everything else about this supposed affirmation of life is.
Platitudes are thrown left, right & center, & the local board also shows their favoritism by not peppering the frame like they're wont to, the way most big Bollywood flicks get away with, having alcohol & nicotine in the frame without doing all the explaining that other little makers have to.
But there's good stuff. The need for having a therapist, and individual interactions between therapist & patient, is something worth taking home, especially if one belongs to the school of not needing therapy. The locations are well-chosen, as is the production & set design, for a change, in spite of the candyfloss theme overall. The framing is just right, & the faux ending, perfect.
Just wish this one had something more substantial within. Also with it was relatable. There are so many places where better writing would've sufficed, but where, imho, no effort was made.
TV movie, solely for the lead actress' performance, which, like always, is sincere as it's fearless.
When the 'being Lebanese' joke played itself out, I wondered if Gauri Shinde watched the same comedy show I'd done, where a class-act Stand-up comedienne from Bengaluru had used (created?) the same schtick in her act about a mother and daughter discovering mature content (actually, mom doing the honors and putting the beti on the back foot) on the internet.
Until then, I was wondering where all of this was meandering, but then, I almost felt that this was a lost cause, in spite of director Shinde's excellent work begins the camera in 'English Vinglish', to which there's a strange & unnecessary callback.
Other than the editing & the strangely insipid score, the work done on the technical areas tries to detract from how flat everything else about this supposed affirmation of life is.
Platitudes are thrown left, right & center, & the local board also shows their favoritism by not peppering the frame like they're wont to, the way most big Bollywood flicks get away with, having alcohol & nicotine in the frame without doing all the explaining that other little makers have to.
But there's good stuff. The need for having a therapist, and individual interactions between therapist & patient, is something worth taking home, especially if one belongs to the school of not needing therapy. The locations are well-chosen, as is the production & set design, for a change, in spite of the candyfloss theme overall. The framing is just right, & the faux ending, perfect.
Just wish this one had something more substantial within. Also with it was relatable. There are so many places where better writing would've sufficed, but where, imho, no effort was made.
TV movie, solely for the lead actress' performance, which, like always, is sincere as it's fearless.