Mayur Lookhar
Mumbai, 06 Oct 2017 8:00 IST
Slice-of-life tales usually generate good interest, but Tu Hai Mera Sunday isn't one of them.
In the hustle and bustle of a maddening city like Mumbai, it is common for people to lose touch with themselves and turn into disgruntled zombies. You may not be a monster, but the vagaries of life leave a bitter taste, making you (unintentionally) hurt your dear ones.
Director Milind Dhaimade narrates the tales of a dozen such characters in Tu Hai Mera Sunday. Up first is Arjun (Barun Sobti), an unambitious, humble guy living with his sister and brother-in-law who just believes in going with the flow. Then there is Kavya (Shahana Goswami), an independent, single woman who is struggling between work and caring for her ailing father.
Rashid (Avinash Tiwary) is a self-proclaimed casanova, living in an abomination of a room that is full of filth and a rat who ruins his romps.
Dominic aka Domi (Vishal Malhotra) is a frustrated and struggling single Goan who keeps fighting with his mother. He hates his brother who comes from Dubai with his Hindu girlfriend.
Mehernosh (Nakul Bhalla) loathes his autocratic, perverted boss who is adamant on making the life of his colleague Peppy (Pallavi Batra) miserable. Mehernosh, a Parsi, has a huge crush on Peppy, and in order to avenge her humiliation, he secretly keeps mailing cuss letters to their boss.
Jayesh Garodia (Jay Upadhyay) is a Gujarati stockbroker who is not too fond of the clichéd nagging antics of his family.
Tasneem (Rasika Duggal) is a Muslim woman abandoned by her husband after she gives birth to deaf twins before she finds a true friend in Rashid.
Phew! That's a lot of characters to remember and track. Their sob stories leave you feeling sad yourself.
Arjun & Company bump into an old man at a skywalk. Sensing that the old man is lost, Arjun decides to take him along for a game of football at Juhu beach. An ill-timed kick by the old man strikes an environmental activist who files a complaint against all the players. Turns out that one of Arjun's friends is a policeman, so they are all let off. When Arjun finally drops the old man home, he meets Kavya. Weirdly enough, she requests Arjun (a relative stranger) to take care of her father so that she can attend to a work emergency.
Dhaimade's characters leave you exhausted. They are uninspiring and not particularly memorable. While the Muslim, Hindu, Parsi, Christian characters make a strong case for national integration, none of them has a convincing story to tell. They naturally lend themselves to stereotypical portraits and the filmmaker doesn't make any attempt to show otherwise. And this is where Tu Hai Mera Sunday falls flat.
For over an hour we only see the characters and their problems. The film reveals its intention in the last hour when a stressbuster trip to Goa brings some much-needed life into a drab film. An act in a fit of rage by Mehernosh exposes the vulnerability of all the characters, paving the way to redemption. But by then it is too late, and too little. The first half is irreparable, unpardonable.
The poor script hampers acting talents that could have been. Goswami displays her usual confidence, but the one character that shines is Bhalla's. The meek Mehernosh discovers his mojo when he takes on his unruly boss, pinning him down and spitting on him. He displays varied emotions well.
Seasoned Marathi actress Rama Joshi is flawless in her portrayal of Wilma, an ageing Goan mother. She exhibits both frustration and love for her warring sons. She leaves you teary-eyed in the scene where she breaks down, sandwiched between her squabbling sons. And unlike them, she has perfected the Goan accent and mannerisms. The other characters don't give one much to write home about.
Slice-of-life tales usually generate a good deal of interest, but Tu Hai Mera Sunday isn't one of them. If you are looking to kill time on a Sunday, better go for a walk on the beach or kick a ball in your neighbourhood.