Piku is one gem of a movie - a film that is as realistic as it is charming, as beautiful as it is brilliantly humorous. Soojit Sircar's able directorial efforts on Juhi Chaturvedi's excellent script turn it into an ineffable film experience. With its quirky and eccentric characters, the film adopts a persistent sense of everyday realism which makes the overall product consistently engaging, funny, moving and fascinating. Piku is comic and dramatic in equal parts, but more than its substance, it is a true visual treat. What starts as a nice domestic picture concentrating on the routine of its lead players in what is clearly reminiscent of the old Hrishikesh Mukherjee classics, it takes a turn of events to become an eminently watchable and breathtakingly shot road movie. It never drags for one minute, often making you wish it wouldn't end as quickly as it eventually did.
The film presents one of the most authentic and credible father-daughter relationships ever recorded on film. In so doing, it celebrates values of children looking after their aging parents, values which certainly prevail in a country like India and which gradually disappear from the common consciousness of the current youth. The main character Piku's responsibility towards her ailing father, her patience towards his annoying habits and oversmart nature, is captured with terrific detail, and not for a moment does it veer into cliche. Her almost maternal care of him is never portrayed with overdone sentimentality, sweet talk, or much physical interaction. Her love is selfless and unconditional, and it's proven in actions rather than words. In that respect it reminds one of Mrinal Sen's classic Khandhar, where Shabana Azmi took care of her bedridden mother.
The soulful delivery could not have been possible without the acting, and Piku, both the film and the character, reveals Deepika Padukone as an actor who, at her best, has the rare ability to grasp the complex realities of the human condition. Easily irritable, no-nonsense, always under the pressure of her struggle, she is fully in sync with her character, capturing the flawed nature of Piku with tremendous subtlety. Hers is a portrait of true selflessness and strength. At the same time, Amitabh Bachchan offers a poignant study of old age experience. His mastery of the essence and meaning of growing old and of this ultra-annoying yet touchingly endearing man is phenomenal in a performance that is remarkably well-detailed, nuanced and naturalistic. To think that this towering star-actor would ever approach his parts with the sensibility of character actors is a treasure to behold.
These two work wonderfully opposite each other, but the rest of the cast are all brilliant living their parts. Obviously Irfan's quiet, effortless charisma is undeniable, and his performance vies for top honours despite perhaps being given the status of a supporting actor here. He is dependable all through, and this touch of mystery where you never know what exactly this guy is thinking is as great as ever. In a small part with almost no lines, but being present in almost every scene, Avijit Dutt is reliably good. Yesteryear star Moushumi Chatterjee is also very good in a role that would certainly remind you of some woman you know. But Piku has no stars, is a film which conveys simple and meaningful messages, and it does so through pure entertainment. The constipation part is a recurring comic motif here, but the reinforcement of the divine duty to honour one's parents is stronger.
