Kaashvie Nair gives us an interesting premise. However, it leaves the cineaste with the lurking question as to how much better the outing would have been if the film was in Malayalam. It would have surely been a winner. Here, it is not. You end up appreciating the spirit behind the enthusiastic filmmaker.
Amreek Singh (Arjun Kapoor) and his friend Radha (Rakul Preet Singh) run a packers and movers facility named ‘Gently and Gently’ which is, however, far from the name. Our man has butter fingers and is dropping precious stuff when packing and moving things for customers. The couple has a tiff and he returns to India to meet up his ailing grandma Sardar (Neena Gupta).
Staying in the palatial premises alongside the nonagenarian are Amreek’s parents Gurukeerat Singh (Kanlwaljeet) and his wife Simi Kaur (Soni Razdan). Competing for the property of the ailing grandma is her other daughter-in-law Honey (Divya Seth).
Her ambition and dying desire is to visit her home in Lahore which she, when young (role essayed by Aditi Rao Hydari), built along with her husband (John Abraham). After all his efforts to obtain a visa for Sardar fails, Amreek decides to get the house transported on wheels to Punjab. How he does it in the face of tough opposition from the local Mayor Saqlain Niazi (Kumud Misra) makes for the film.
What robs the interesting concept is that most of it is ill-structured and the actors, despite their reputation, fall short of being their best. It is a tragedy watching the likes of Divya Seth and Soni Razdan being reduced to props. John Abraham and Aditi Rao Hydari overstay their cameo and derail the gentle growing of the character of Sardar.
Kanwaljeet looks more faded than old in the role of the father. Rakul Preet Singh is very pleasant and dignified in an insignificant role. Masood Akhtar plays the role of a Pakistan citizen who understands Amreek and is eager to help. Kumud Mishra, who is justified in his anger, is amazing in a negative role. This guy is an amazing actor and is only showing us different layers of his class.
Left to her natural talent, Neena Gupta is her usual confident self. It is the prosthesis that mars her brilliance. This notwithstanding, she holds the tattering narrative together. Trying hard to do the same and with a degree of success is Arjun Kapoor. These two, true to the title, try their very best to keep things interesting. Try. Given the negatives in the midst of which this film presents itself, it is recommended. It is, at one level, a reiteration of the talent of Neena Gupta, a case pushing for Arjun and, above all, the willingness to try something out of the box.
Title: Sardar Ka Grandson
Cast: Neena Gupta, Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Kanwaljeet Singh, Soni Razdan, Divya Seth, Kumud Mishra
Director: Kaashvie Nair
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