I watched it... I loved it. I watched it again, I enjoyed it. I watched it yet again and laughed and cried like it was the first time and I happen to watch it once more and I didn't want to leave the comfort of my couch and the movie for anything else.
From the time I have penned this line down I have watched it a few more times and have not felt anything different to what I have written....
Some films do that to you and Piku was definitely one. I have a few more movies like this which make it to the special list. This movie is ( was- as it's taken me months to finish) so fresh in my mind that the thoughts had to be penned down.
There isn't really a reason why I loved it, perhaps there are one too many or probably the truth is that I can end the explanation in saying the simplicity of the story did it for me.
In a world that's so consumed by whats the next big thing happening in one's life, the every day simple messy routine of life is beautifully captured in this film. It makes me yearn for that lost comfort of plainness, of being direct, of simplicity in everyday life and to an extent in my parallel life of movies... of good old Hindi movies.
Everything about Piku confirms it's my kinda film. I'm a total sucker for simple life moments. Routine can be boring to many, but I can put my hand on heart and say I am comfortable, cozy and happy with routine and in fact the lack of it sometimes can be disturbing. I just crave that feeling of surety that a routine brings. The routine in a common man's middle class life in India is totally relatable to my memories and that is precisely what I got out of Piku.
I adored Deepika Padukone, yes! I am a fan of hers and for reasons more than one. For a start, I do believe she can act and there couldn't have been a better person for the role of Piku. She carried it out with ease, she was real and her body language throughout the film fit the character to a T. Though you think of it as a role, as a character - there was definitely an element of 'this can be anyone of us' which she kept alive through out the movie. The character of Piku was practical yet emotional, irritable yet lovable, demanding yet soft. The writer could not have painted a better picture of a person in that situation.
Irrfan and Amitabh are in full form with their performances. Who ever cast these 3 key characters has got it bang on.
I loved how modern the setting was - the conversations, the style of life very rooted, very Indian and yet open and modern. How I wished my family was like that! I loved how Bhaskor just openly says 'there are many reasons for me not to like you' to his sister-in-law. Does that really happen in a family? I am sure we can start a WW4 if that was said to anyone at mine!
The film also captures a family living in a different city where the culture, the language, the attitude of people is different , just slightly different for the spark, the perception in the society. No matter how far you go away and adopt to a new way of life and living, the roots always pull you down. That comparison that you make, the pride that your home, your hometown provides you a level of comfort and joy that is unmatched for anywhere else.
The movie is constantly evolving and throwing something at you non-stop. The story can be a one liner, but the number of aspects of day to day life that it connects and reaches out to cannot be summed up. Whether it's about parents being selfish about what their children should do for them, or being the open-mindedness of a parent to let go and treat their child as an adult who can make decisions of their own, the clash between the members of -in-law families and the detached love and affection people have in nuclear families are well etched in the story. There is something to relate to in every other frame and so this movie, though a movie,an art of fiction rubs a warm sort of feeling every time I watch it.
If you haven't watched it and if you are one who gets mushy on simple life's day to day moments and mundane-ness go watch it!
