How many times have you come across a film that makes you smile while you have a lump in your throat at the same time? Such are the dwellers of this nest that you feel sorry for them for the trouble they land themselves into but such is the treatment of the film that rather than being a compulsive tearjerker it has that feel good effect on you (without being overtly mushy either).
Never since the times of Sai Paranjpe or Basu Chatterjee has one come across as authentic portrayal of the middle-class in films as you get to see here. Khosla Ka Ghosla talks about a family in Delhi headed by Mr. Khosla (Anupam Kher) who invests all his life's savings to buy a plot on which he dreams of building his own bungalow. But after buying the plot he finds the land being encroached by a builder Khurana (Boman Irani). He uses paisa, pehalwan and politics to get his land back but is too diminutive in front of the mammoth Khurana. Finally the straightforward family attempts devious ways to get back their land.
Despite the film being delayed for long, the narrative still comes out as fresh and original. An average audience can so much relate to the characters of the film since none of them play the conventional larger-than-life Bollywood hero but a common man. Where else can you find the male lead of the film (Parvin Dabas) with a name that goes as Chiraunjilal? Kiran Juneja playing Khosla's wife, in her minuscule bit, is such a refreshing change from the sugar sweet Farida Jalal or the melodramatic Reema Lagoo kind of on screen mothers. Or for that matter Ranvir Shorey as the elder brother isn't the usual dominating or over-protective type clichéd character.
The scenes that unfold come out so much out of real life situations. The only inspiration that the film derives is from real life. The semi-autobiographical script by Jaideep Sahni is original, amazing and entertaining. Debutante director Dibakar Bannerjee extracts fine performances from every member of the cast and never lets anybody go overboard or under-act. The comic timing of the characters is simply flawless. The theme of the film might be a serious issue but the treatment is very light-hearted. Songs are restricted just to the background and Kailash Kher's 'Chak De Phatte' gels perfect with the proceedings. The background score attributed to Boman Irani's character, every time he enters the scene, needs a special mention.
Post Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara, this is Anupam Kher's best performance. He has performed such common man characters before and plays his part effortlessly even here. From Munnabhai MBBS, Being Cyrus to Khosla Ka Ghosla, Boman Irani perhaps is the only villain who can successfully add a natural comic effect to negative characters. Parvin Dabbas, Vinay Pathak, Navin Nischol and Kiran Juneja are apt in their roles. Ranvir Shorey plays the most hilarious comic characters to have come out in recent times without being goofy at any time. The actor is simply amazing.
Khosla Ka Ghosla is an appetizing pure vegetarian thali in the age of non-veg junkies. Go relish it!
