The film begins with a soothing sitar recital in the titles and then the film straight away steps on to the 3rd gear in its first sequence itself showcasing the father-daughter having a tensed, high pitched conversation. The few other key characters in the script get quickly introduced in the next 20 minutes with fast intercuts between its short scenes and the progression never really gives you some time even to look at your mobile phone (following the routine habit). In the middle PIKU turns into a road movie with the team of four (Amitabh, Deepika, Irrfan and the servant) deciding to go to Kolkatta via road (car) from Delhi and then the city of joy greets you well with another impressive Bengali couple strongly demanding your attention with their noticeable act. Its final moments make you feel the pain of separation with moist eyes and the climax leaves you thinking on an indecisive note, probably shying away from having a routine, predictable end.
Based on a unique and unusual plot about constipation, PIKU is certainly not an easy film to make as it doesn't have any descriptive storyline and it more or less remains predictable too once its basic premise gets revealed in the initial moments. The topic of toiler humour is quite difficult to express in dialogues being spoken on dinner tables but Juhi does it superbly establishing the loving relationship between the old age father and his daughter in the early thirties. The sequences keep delivering many enjoyable moments and good laughs regularly till the finale and one doesn't feel tired at all watching only 4-5 characters in the entire film simply conversing with each other on the topic of constipation. In other words, the film has no conflict as such (as it was there in VICKY DONOR) but Sircar still successfully manages to make it all fun and nothing boring or dragging with an amazing ease reminding you of the classic films from Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee.
An intelligent film made straight from the heart, PIKU fearlessly talks about many serious issues in a comical mode such as old age ailment, the lonely life of a widower or a widow when their grown up kids are willing to start their own family, the attention seeking nature of old people and the nostalgia they like to keep living in remembering the gone era. It focuses on a weird, over-indulgent father who feels no shame in telling a stranger that his young daughter is not a virgin and a visibly frustrated but caring daughter who only has the topic of constipation to talk about on the phone even when she is sitting in a restaurant on a dinner date.
Besides the best part of the film turns out to be its particular scenes and dialogues dealing with Bengali language, culture and the city of Kolkatta, making it a visual treat to enjoy along with the touching relationships developing between its various characters. Musically, PIKU has few average but soothing numbers from singer- songwriter-composer Anupam Roy (his debut Hindi project) perfectly suiting the mood of the film. Plus the beautiful cinematography, crisp editing (though too quick at times) and casual costumes designed quite authentically establish an instant connection with the viewer enhancing its overall impact.
Moving into performances, though the film has two towering male personalities having their own distinctive screen presence known to all, the film still completely belongs to Deepika Padukone alone as conveyed by the title PIKU that happens to be her nickname (the original name not mentioned anywhere). The actress truly gives another career best performance as the young, casual, middle class, working girl (with minimal make-up) who has twinkling eyes, killer looks and an adorable controlled grin that slowly makes you fall in love as the film proceeds further.
Amitabh Bachchan as Banerjee is a sheer delight to watch and that too minus his baritone voice in an eccentric kind of character conversing in an enjoyable Bengali tone. He is simply outstanding slipping into a different body of an old man annoyed of his own non- existing or self-assumed diseases. And I really doubt we have any other actor around who could be giving these kinds of performances at the age of 70. Completing the trio, Irrfan Khan as expected plays the travel agency owner with an incredible perfection. The way he calls out his drivers to take up different duties and his entertaining interactions with Amitabh Bachchan on the road trip generate a good laugh in the theatres.
In the supporting cast, that always has been the highlight of a Shoojit Sircar film we have the return of Moushumi Chatterjee on screen as the talkative Mausi who is delightful talking with Amitabh Bachchan about his dead wife, her sister. Raghuvir Yadav makes a decent impact as the friendly doctor and then the actors playing the Bengali couple, Irrfan's family and the accompanying servant, all remain fairly entertaining in their respective roles, particularly the servant.
Having praised the film whole heartedly, I still found PIKU as a project majorly made only to entertain its audiences (and not enlighten them), focusing less on the drama and emotional aspect of the relationships that happened to be the key element of films of Hrishi Da and Basu Da. Music being the soul of our Hindi films, the melody was once again missing though the lyrics were right there expressing it fine. Moreover it simply touches many sensitive issues of life but avoids getting into them in details fearing the viewer's loss of interest.
Having said that, with PIKU as one of the best films of 2015, Hindi film-makers do expand their vision of mainstream cinema exploring new ideas undoubtedly and therefore the film deserves to be seen as a must supporting the progressive move.
