Sharmaji Namkeen: The main star wins all laurels
Hyderabad: The introductory salutations to Kapoor showmanship sets the tone. If there was ever any doubt about the Kapoor talent, specially Rishi, his swansong places the issue far beyond any debate. The middle-aged Rishi Kapoor is fighting hard to move out of his 50s and his retirement. Like almost every other role Rishi has not […]
Hyderabad: The introductory salutations to Kapoor showmanship sets the tone. If there was ever any doubt about the Kapoor talent, specially Rishi, his swansong places the issue far beyond any debate. The middle-aged Rishi Kapoor is fighting hard to move out of his 50s and his retirement. Like almost every other role Rishi has not only been there and done it, but again revisits with a freshness. His sense of timing is almost genetically perfect.
Sharmaji (Rishi Kapoor/Paresh Rawal) has just retired from service at 58. Thrown into retirement, Sharmaji lives with sons – Sandeep Sharma (Suhail Nayayr) and Vincy (Taaruk Raina). A resident of West Delhi’s Subhashnagar, he has a passion for cooking. On retirement, he is to come to terms with changing scenario which is typical but challengingly survives largely due to the talent of Paresh Rawal and Rishi Kapoor in playing the central character.
There is the old-world value versus the contemporary requirements. The presumptions of age, the assumptions of young, new age aspirations, old time moorings, all in tandem though seemingly in clashes, make up for the narration. Told in about two hours in a typical middle class milieu, the storyline may have nothing fresh but is downright honest and thus warm and endearing.
In the larger context, Sharmaji Namkeen is to be seen exclusively from the Rishi Kapoor lens. While the likes of Juhi Chawla, Sheeba Chadda, Satish Kaushik, Gufi Paintal are adequate, it is the main star who wins all the laurels. As a first of its kind with two actors playing the same role continuity takes a marginal beating. However, a part of the narrative could have been better adjusted.
Paresh Rawal deserves a special pat on the back for accepting the professional challenge of stepping into the Kapoor shoes. Rishi Kapoor is outstanding. His sense of timing, his capacity to seamlessly navigate from the pleasant to the emotional to the angry points to the fact that Rishi Kapoor’s face is a God made kaleidoscope. Invest two hours of the weekend in the story of a man who lives his 58 in style and without an iota of an apology. Most importantly, watch it for Rishi Kapoor.
Postscript: Juhi Chawla drops Rishi Kapoor after giving him a lift a rekindled romance on the face of Rishi is a fine moment.
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