Sardar Ka Grandson
Ratings: 2.5/5
Duration: 02 Hr 19 Mins
Language: Hindi
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Kaashvie Nair
Writer: Anuja Chauhan, Amitosh Nagpal, Kaashvie Nair
Producers: John Abraham, Monisha Advani, Nikkhil Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Rameshchandra Yadav
Music: Tanishk Bagchi
Cinematography: Mahendra Shetty
Editing: Maahir Zaveri
Art Direction: Rahul Ghodke, Vijay Ghodke
Release Date: 18 May 2021 (India)
Streaming On: Netflix
Star Cast: Neena Gupta, Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Kanwaljit Singh, John Abraham, Aditi Rao Hydari, Masood Akhtar, Rajiv Kachroo, R. Bhakti Klein, Kumud Mishra, Soni Razdan, Akashdeep Sabir, Divya Seth Shah, Manoj Singh
Plot: Amreek (Arjun Kapoor) stays in Los Angeles with his fiancé Radha (Rakul Preet Singh), and together they run a movers and packers company called ‘Gently Gently’. However, Amreek is not gentle with his work as he often breaks the valuable belongings of his clients and thinks it is not a big deal. And then clumsy Amreek breaks up with his girlfriend Radha because he can’t apologize even if he is on the wrong side.
When Amreek is sulking over his breakup, he gets a call from his father who informs that his grandmother Sardar’s (Neena Gupta) health isn’t fine. On the news of his grandmother, America's Amreek flies to Amritsar to meet her.
Sardar’s final wish is that she wants to go to Lahore to visit her pre-partition home, where she lost her husband 70 years ago. Having just split with his fiancé, Amreek feels he understands the emptiness that Sardar has carried with her for 70-plus years after the death of her beloved husband. Hence, he is determined to do everything his abilities permit to take her to Pakistan, but faces many roadblocks on the way. It is when the idea of ‘structural relocation’ hits him, he decides to bring the home to Sardar and that forms the rest of the story.
Review: The digital platform has been a boon for many films boasting edgy and out-of-the-box content. However, ever since the pandemic hit the world, we have seen some conventional family films also making their way on OTT, and ‘Sardar Ka Grandson’ is one among them that has joined the club.
Kaashvie Nair's story is lovely and quite promising, with one who moves mountains (in this case a mansion), to bring happiness to his grandparent. It is an innovative premise for a riotous comedy, but there are a few loose ends and something should have been done about it. For instance, the film’s story rests heavily on Sardar’s mischievous relationship with her equally loud family that could have been a source for a lot of organic humour. We see the attempts to bring that out but flat dialogues without the required punches seldom do the trick. Also, it takes more than an hour for ‘Sardar ka Grandson’ to get to its main plot point that is shifting the house from Pakistan to India. In fact, the story starts going downhill once Amreek figures out a plan to fulfill his grandmother's wish which is an irony, because that is where the film should actually have turned enjoyable!
Gulraj Singh’s background score is subtle and doesn’t surrender to the loud narration keeping things light.
When it comes to performances, Neena Gupta will hold your heart in the emotional scenes, and make you giggle in the lame ones! She lits up the screen with her hearty laugh and looked like Rishi Kapoor’s counterpart from Kapoor & Sons. Also, Kumud Mishra faces no challenges while portraying the character, resulting in a highly bland final output.
Arjun Kapoor’s honest efforts are visible. It is a hat-trick of decent performances for Arjun Kapoor since Panipat, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and now this. The scenes between Arjun Kapoor and Neena Gupta have enough warmth in them to make their camaraderie so enjoyable to watch.
Rakul Preet Singh’s extended cameo doesn’t give her any scope to do anything out-of-the-box, whereas, Aditi Rao Hydari shines like always expanding her range, managing to look ‘straight out of heaven’. Thankfully, John Abraham doesn’t get many dialogues because he is still not verbally ready to play a Sardar.
Another addition to the list of ‘overqualified actors’ for this script is Kanwaljit Singh and Soni Razdan.
The film’s idea is novel and far-fetched that required massive cinematic liberties, which the makers duly take. However, for a story that is set on the turbulent past of the two countries and their tricky present, a bulk of the execution comes across as lazy. Like there is one set that is passed off as a busy street in Lahore and the other one as the all-important house. Due to this, the intense emotionality of Sardar’s yearning for it isn’t felt so strongly.
Overall, ‘Sardar Ka Grandson' is a heart-warming, touching tale that has its emotions in the right place. It might not be logical in some places, but it is a clean entertainer and deserves to be watched with your whole family!
