Thank you bhai

His first film, My Brother Nikhil, hinted at it, his second directorial venture, Bas Ek Pal, reinstated it, but Sorry Bhai proves it. Onir is a master navigator of swampy territory.

Film: Sorry Bhai
Director: Onir
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Sanjay Suri, Sharman Joshi, Chintrangada Singh and Boman Irani
Rating: ******
Running at: Inox (Forum, City Centre, Swabhumi)

His first film, My Brother Nikhil, hinted at it, his second directorial venture, Bas Ek Pal, reinstated it, but Sorry Bhai proves it. Onir is a master navigator of swampy territory. Give him awkward situations and convoluted love angles, and he is as happy as a kid in a toy store, but ask him to string things together and he is as helpless as that very kid in the grocery section of a supermarket. It is intriguing really how the bungling, confused protagonist of the film, played by the supremely talented Sharman Joshi, stands almost as an embodiment of an Onir film— flawed but likable.

The plot, as must be evident from the promos of the film, is about a guy who falls in love with his brother’s fiance. But Onir attempts to milk a moody comedy out of it. And surprisingly enough, he succeeds, albeit falteringly. One is most likely to find oneself strolling along the film’s basic plotline, not necessarily bowled over by what one is seeing, but not exactly disliking it either. Yet, the films biggest flaw is the fact that director Onir has still not discovered the cinematic device called editing. Either he forces scenes together (as he does in the second half of the film), or he just strings them together loosely (as in the turgid first half). Needless to say the performances suffer because of it. Take Chintrangada Singh’s character for instance, as she is drawn towards her fiance’s brother, the audience can identify with her as Onir very carefully builds their romance. But her eventual decisions don’t really strike chord. Similarly, Sanjay Suri’s character ends up being a victim of the plotline, at the first half he is used as the convenient fall guy. Thankfully, Onir redeems that in the second half, where Suri’s turn as the almost cuckolded guy is painted more sensitively.

However, no one can blame the director for not fleshing out the characters of the delightful parents. Shabana as the domineering mother could have ended up being a caricature; instead she comes across as a believable, quirky lady, who wants the best for her sons. Boman Irani has played the poker-faced jokester so many times that he can probably sleepwalk through such roles, and still endear the audience.

All said and done, one must realise that in these harrowing times, any movie that can warm the heart and tickle the funny bone without selling its soul is to be cherished, warts and all.