Sep 03, 2010 05:29 PM
3490 Views
Lets one get one thing straight-We Are Family isn’t a ‘copy’ of or ‘lifted’ from Stepmom as is believed by some. It’s an ‘official adaptation’ of the Hollywood flick and due credit is given to its writers as well. With a brilliant plot in one hand and powerhouse actors on the other, the makers could have easily come up with a classic. However, We Are Family suffers from the same problem that some recent films helmed by debutant directors faced-an execution which just isn’t upto the mark. Inspite of it, the film has its moments and also the wonderful performance make it worth watching!
The story of the movie: Although Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Arjun Rampal) are divorced, they are still on good terms. They have 3 children - Aliya (Aanchal Munjhal), Ankush (Nominath Ginsburg) and Anjali (Diya Sonecha) who live with Maya. She’s the perfect mother and wonderfully takes care of them and adheres to their needs. Aman, too, catches up with them regularly. However, he has moved on and has a girlfriend Shreya (Kareena Kapoor). On Anjali’s birthday, he introduces Shreya to Maya and their children who develop an immediate dislike for her. Aliya is angry and feels that Shreya will ‘rob’ her daddy from them and they both will marry. Whenever Shreya tries to be friendly with the kids and strike a chord, something unexpected happens which leads to the kids hating her more! However, one day Maya discovers a very bitter truth and realizes that Shreya needs to be made a part of their family. Will that be possible? Will the kids able to love Shreya as they love Maya? Can 2 mothers make a home?
Let’s talk about the plusses first. The casting is just perfect! Every actor does total justice to his/her role. Storyline is unusual but works well. There were doubts that such kind of plot will not be accepted by Indian audiences. Not true! A story like this one is made for Indian audiences even though it’s little unorthodox. Moreover, some scenes are very well treated and instantly touch the hearts. Especially the climax which takes the film to a high!
However, on the flipside, as mentioned above, the direction isn’t topnotch. The plot needed to be more sensitively treated which unfortunately doesn’t happen. The director should have given more time to the characters to develop, mature and bond with each other even if that would have increased the duration of the film (which was anyways just 2 hours). Also, some scenes just don’t make any sense. For instance, Kajol’s outburst on Kareena when she had prepared peanut cookies was too exaggerated. It seemed like an unnecessary attempt by the director to add some drama and conflict in the film to spice up the proceedings! Wish if the flaws were taken care of, what a film We Are Family would have been!
The two actresses-Kajol and Kareena Kapoor-rock the show! Kajol was terrific to say the least! She gets better in the later portions of the film wherein she has a pale look. One of the reasons why you’ll get teary-eyed in the end is because of Kajol and her brilliant performance! Kareena Kapoor also manages to hold a strong position throughout the film. I was skeptical whether she’ll be able to play a convincing ‘stepmom’ considering she has never done even remotely similar. But surprisingly, she comes out with flying colours and was in fact perfect for this role! Another brilliant performance from a terrific actress!
Arjun Rampal also does a great job but somehow his performance doesn’t satisfy. Maybe because he had delivered the best work of his career in his last film (Raajneeti) that is still lingering in our minds. Or maybe because the scene here is dominated by the two ladies and in many scenes he’s just relegated to the background! Overall a fine attempt though! As for the kids, the youngest one, Diya Sonecha stands out because of her cuteness. Aanchal Munjhal shines in several scenes while Nominath Ginsburg don’t get much scope.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music was strictly okay and this is easily their weakest attempt at composing. 2 songs which stand out are-Dil Khol Ke Let’s Rock and Reham O Karam. Raju Singh’s background made an impact in certain scenes. Cinematographer Mohanan captures the locales of Australia wonderfully. Costumes, especially those of Kareena Kapoor (Manish Malhotra) were too good and Kareena as usual was looking stunning! Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues made a mark at several points. Story (by Gigi Levangie who wrote Stepmom) was no doubt brilliant. The adapated screenplay (Venita Coelho) could have been better and fails to match up to the script of the original.
Finally, Siddharth P Malhotra’s direction wasn’t up to the mark. He has handled several scenes with utmost sensitivity but overall he was just okay. If Karan Johar had helmed this film, We Are Family would have been as brilliant and exciting as say Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham or Kal Ho Naa Ho! Hope Siddharth comes up better prepared when he directs his next!
Some of the best scenes:
1. The first scene
2. Anjali’s birthday party
3. Shreya takes care of the kids for a day
4. Maya stumbles upon the bitter truth
5. The intermission point
6. Maya realizes that Shreya can be a nice stepmom
7. Maya hospitalized
8. Maya gifts each child one by one (watch out for Kajol here!)
9. The climax
On the whole, a film like We Are Family needed an expert direction which Siddharth P Malhotra fails to do. And that’s what goes against the film which is otherwise well shot, well written and well performed. Notwithstanding the flaws, it is still worth watching for Kajol, Kareena and its theme!
