The Great Shamsuddin Family

Speaking about the setting of the plot, it is absolutely half-baked and no matter how hard you try, you will want it to stop or rather, skip to the end. The execution is so tedious that you don't need to watch the screen, but closing your eyes and listening to the dialogue would alone do the job. The Great Shamsuddin Family features actors like Kritika Kamra, Farida Jalal, Sheeba Chaddha, Purab Kohli, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Dolly Ahluwalia, Juhi Babbar, Natasha Rastogi and others, but none of their acting stands out, and they do not have any pure expression throughout the film. I would blame the poor execution and direction for this. All the chaos happening at the same time with no solid background is boring to watch.

Anusha Rizvi's direction is absorbing. The idea is interesting and since it's set in one house in a day and involves an extended family, it can be best described as a cross between BHEJA FRY and KAPOOR & SONS. The humour is well-infused and also the conversations seem quite straight out life. What adds to the relatability factor are the characters. Everyone will be able to relate to one of the characters or will know someone who is similar to the people shown in the film. The religious angle also plays an important part and that further makes the film a product of today.

The Great Shamsuddin Family is a seemingly light chamber piece that hides its claws of social commentary under the chirpy banter of an apartment full of women, observes Deepa Gahlot. It would rate quite high on the list of nightmares -- the random arrival of a succession of relatives and friends at the door, when a potentially life-changing project has a deadline coming up in a few hours. Anusha Rizvi's film The Great Shamsuddin Family comes too long after her first, Peepli [Live] (2010), and is a seemingly light chamber piece that hides its claws of social commentary under the chirpy banter of an apartment full of women, who were not meant to be there.

With a running time of about 100 minutes, The Great Shamsuddin Family isn’t a film that always has it all together, but one that’s engaging and warm. Not to mention, at a time when the film space is all about loud men inflicting violence, this light, chaotic ride truly stands out.

The plot-and-pace flattens with a few stagey-clunky bits, showing up the challenges of confining the action to a house which is clearly a set. Some lines feel contrived, but this one– ‘kam se kam rishwat toh secular honi chahiye’– makes you smile. As does most of the film, which touches lightly upon weighty issues — divorce, meher-ki-rakam, love-jihad, traffic pile-ups, the fear of phones going out of reach when the individual is of a minority community– and emerges on the other side, woven in dialogue which is milieu-specific but contemporary. Watch it for the array of solid performances, helmed by the wonderful Farida Jalal and Sheeba Chaddha, with Anup Soni’s criminally brief appearance leaving a mark. It isn’t perfect, but it makes you smile and think.