Zoya Akhtar is an unusual film maker. In all her three films, she tells stories of the urban rich Indians. People who have all the money but have something missing in their lives which makes them incomplete.
She is not interested in telling the stories of the poor or middle class which is great because every second Indian film maker is telling us a story from there. And she is no Karan Johar who also makes films about the rich but in an Ekta Kapoor style, over the top melodramatic.
DDD is the story of the Mehras. From the outside, a very successful and happy family. But through the eyes of their dog, Pluto, its one huge dysfucntional family. Their business is running huge losses. Mr & Mrs Mehra don't get along because of Mr. Mehra affairs away from home. Their daughter, Ayesha is unhappy with her marriage and their son, Kabir is a pilot and not interested in the family business.
Mehra's 30th wedding anniversary is suppose to a happy reunion of friends and family but slowly turns into a disaster as the family falls apart when the cracks begin to appear on surface.
DDD is one of the best films in recent times I've seen which talks about the Indian family system and beautiful highlights the flaws as we are now in the 21st century. Men are suppose to work and women are suppose to take care of home and give birth to babies.
As my summary says the movies is good in parts because Zoya, Reema and Farhan create some very interesting & thought provoking premises in the film such as Ayesha's fight with herself and then with her family, Ayesha and Kabir's bounding, on women empowerment and selfishness of parents. Women will love this film because there's a lot spoken about the role of women today.
Somehow while connecting the dots, the three somehow fail to make a complete good film. The film slows down at times and then there is Pluto's commentary which starts to irritate because its spoils some good moments. Javed Akhtar is great writer and I loved his poems in the ZMD. But here is comes down as plain preaching at times.
And then the climax. Its hilarious but also stupid. Yes, we all love a happy ending but climax goes a bit over the top.
However, the music is nice, not many songs and some beautiful camera work by Carlos Catalan. However, the main strong point of the film is the performances.
The cast sink their teeth beautifully because the characters are so well written. Never such wonderful characters of screen.
Anil Kapoor as Sr. Mehra is at his best. Once a successful business man now in trouble, a scheming businessman, a man who shameless flirts in front of his wife and a man who fails to see that his heir is his daughter and not is son, Kapoor is superb and gives one fine performance after a very long time.
On the other hand, Ranveer Singh who plays Kabir put another wonderful performance. His comic timing is superb and is unapologetic about his family. He is a man who knows is limits and openly admits that his sister Ayesha is a heir to their father's empire and not him. Check out the scene in the clinic. He'll leave u in shock and splits as he confronts his parents.
Shefali Shah nicely plays the suffering wife and mother of two who cannot find her own identity and in somewhere a failure.
However its Priyanka who stands out. She lives and breathes Ayesha. A successful entrepreneur, somewhere neglected by her parents and cannot meet the expectations of her husband and in laws. She finds comfort in her younger brother and decides to speak when the time arrives to save herself. Hats off.
Farhan and Anushka in their small roles drives important points on how society needs to change with the times.
The rest of the cast is excellent. Rahul Bose as Ayesha's husband is the perfect chauvinist and he is unapologetic about it. His mother played Zarina Wahab hams it beautifully. Wish Zarina does such roles because she did this so well. And the rest, put the dose of the Punjabi culture in every scene.
Its not a bad film but could have been a great film.
