Sir

Very engaging romantic story set in Mumbai, India where the class/caste system is very real and a definite obstacle to love. The storyline is subtle and sweet, no clichés and some real education for us westerners about how people live in modern India.

"Sir" is a film unlike any other Indian film I have seen. While not all Indian films feature singing and dancing, not having it is unusual. But what's really different is that the story involves ordinary people...people who don't look like Bollywood stars. And, the story is interesting because it's rather mundane compared to most of the Indian films we get in the USA....and I mean this as a compliment.

The story is a very leisurely paced tale about a maid who works for a man in Mumbai. She is a widow and is an excellent maid, but Ratna (Tillotama Shome) is plain and from a lower socioeconomic group than the man she works for, Ash (Vivek Gomber). Ash has recently gone through a painful breakup with his fiancee, as she cheated on him and over time it becomes apparent to Ash that the only woman he truly trusts is Ratna...and over time he comes to love her. But such a relationship cannot be in India....and would be tough anywhere. And, more importantly, Ratna cannot allow this as she knows the predicament it would place them both in...and her feelings simply aren't a deciding factor.

This film is a nice bit of insight into real people and real problems in India. While I love more traditional Indian films, I enjoyed this because unlike the usual Bollywood offering, this one seems to have a bit more depth and was about real people...which I really appreciate. Well made and interesting....and available streaming through Netflix here in the States.

The trailer will give you the wrong idea. The movie isn't emotional & intense as it implies. Instead it's a slow-paced drama that shows the slowly developing attraction between a maid & her lord. If you're the impatient type, then the pacing might bore you. The relationship develops very slowly & calmly. It is realistic & heartwarming though. By the end, you'll be satisfied viewing it.

Sir takes its time to unravel and when it does it is hard to not fall in love with it. Not with the characters per se or the actors who play them so magically you want to rush up to them and give a hug, but with the delightful, delicate way director Rohena Gera carves her feature film directorial debut about the invisible relationship between a maid (Tilotama Shome) hailing from a remote Maharashtra village and her employer (Vivek Gomber) who lives and works in the upper-class South Bombay. The subtlety of what unfolds in front of you is the charming factor of Sir, a film that aspires to restructure that relationship, especially the one that is often seen from an exploitative eye. With a swooning romantic layer that is effervescent in almost all scenes - majority of which are between the two lead - there are pleasure bulbs throughout the film like a tree with ripe fruits ready for you to pluck and enjoy albeit from a distance. I can only imagine the depth of writing that must have gone behind the making as there is hardly any scene that looks out of flow or essence with Gera pushing the story lightly letting her characters live and her viewers take it all in like the way you would slow-eat a piece of cake you love so much, giving it time. But the characters are not stereotypical here, especially the one played by Shome, who here has a dream and has been characterized as an idiosyncratic person, something that I feel is a true depiction of a character in a film that talks about class. What, perhaps more than the writing, works here are the performances. It is easy to say I don't see anyone else playing the role of the maid than Shome who has been pleasing ever since her Monsoon Wedding (2001) days but for Sir I mean it or someone who is more quaint and decent and soft-talker-like than Gomber, both of whom grace the screen, turn a wand, and spew magic. Even Geetanjali Kulkarni shines as the film refuses to budge in its attempt to convince your eye glands to fire a tear, a tear that's only the product of delight, pleasure, happiness, and hope all flowing like cool breeze on your face. Goosebumps are expected. The ambiguity is more than a fad here. To borrow a line from a fellow film lover at the film's premiere at Cinepolis, Mumbai, Sir the film sneaks up on you. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 10th Jagran Film Festival (JFF) in Mumbai.)

It is always good and relaxing to go back to the subtle, slow & calm movies when you are a reviewer and constantly indulge into fast paced Action, Thrillers, Adventures, Fantasies etc. Movies like Sir are not being made solely for commercial gains but the idea is to depict realities in a beautifully articulated art form. Sir is simple and calm with runtime of 1hour 39mins no loudness or high tension scenes which is indeed the USP of the movie. Film showcases how strong a woman can be despite of everything going against her, breaking the stereotypes of being a weaker gender Women's are actually the opposites they are always ready to challenge the circumstances, fighting against the odds and ready to sacrifice whole a lot just for the sake of society, acting mature. On the other hand, film has also showed that what Men's actually want from a women and that is just being cared, someone who understand them and being there for them in their downs all the other things like beauty, status etc. Are the secondary things. Both the leads Tillotama Shome & Vivek Gomber were in the charatcers throughout, they were natural neither less nor extra they just nailed it beautifully. Both the story & narration by Rohena Gera are simple yet engaging.

Don't go for this movie if you like fast paced, commercial films because you wont gonna find anything in this and you might get bored .