Film: Hope Aur Hum
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Sajid, Naveen Kasturia, Aamir Bashir, Sonali Kulkarni, Virti Vaghani, Beena, Neha Chauhan
Director: Sudip Bandhopashyay
Rating: * * *
Sudip Bandhopadhyay’s directorial debut is a winningly pitched slice-of-life experience – one that helps you come to terms with your own eccentricities while the narrative resolves those of the characters within. The narrative marries optimism with practicality while delineating a story about simple challenges that the Srivastava family navigate in their quest for a fulfilling life.
Nagesh Srivastava(Naseeruddin Shah) thrives on nostalgia – about his artistic photocopying of Government documents, thanks to his Mr Soneckin – an antiquated German Photocopying machine. But in the present day, his once impressive machine has become a piece of junk with its lens losing much of its famed luminescence. His daughter-in-law Aditi (Sonali Kulkarni) carps on about wanting it junked while his sons- Aditi’s husband Neeraj (Aamir Bashir) and Dubai returned Nitin (Naveen Kasturia) prefer to pussyfoot around the issue. But someone has to give. And Mr Soneckin is retired hurt so that the older grand-child Tanu (Virti Vaghani) can have a room for herself. Anu (Kabir Sajid) the younger grand-kid, an aspiring cricketer, tries hard to understand Nagesh’s predicament-even commiserating with him at times. But he has his own age-related issues to deal with.
There’s no major hurdle to climb though. Retirement, promotion, daily chores, marriage, childhood fantasies, fate, destiny, personal philosophies and many more topics flow in and out of the narrative with ease. It’s just everyday nit-picks framed through the eyes of childhood, youth and old age. Though it doesn’t amount to a profoundly meaningful experience, there’s credible tech specs and a definite sanguinity to keep you interested.
This first time effort is spruced up by enunciated scripting, note-perfect performances, brilliant casting choices, enlivening background score by Rupert Fernandes, visually beckoning camerawork by Ravi K Chandran, subtle editing by Andreas Bruckl and nuanced helming by Sudip. Though not terribly accomplished in content, it definitively marks up a charming insouciance that is difficult to resist.