As it meanders along The Mehta Boys can't decide what it wants to be -- a comedy, an emotional family drama or just a slice of life in the city, observes Deepa Gahlot.
More often than not, when an actor chooses to direct, he picks a script that gives him a great part. So it is no surprise that Boman Irani dominates The Mehta Boys, which is directed, co-produced and co-written by him (with Alex Dinelaris).
He has a terrific introductory scene in which, having just lost his wife, Shiv Mehta walks into a room full of mourners and greets them mechanically, for a moment, not even recognising his son Amay (Avinash Tiwary).
Then, without any background or context, the film goes into a contentious relationship between father and son.
Amay's sister, Anu (Puja Sarup) plays a reluctant peacemaker between the bickering men.
Amay had left his parents' home in Navsari and moved to Mumbai, where he works at firm of architects. His boss Sen (Siddhartha Basu) has heart-to-heart conversations with him but we wonder why he pays him because Amay is not living up to expectations.
There's a co-worker, Zara (Shreya Chaudhary), with whom Amay has a maybe-maybe not romance.
His problems are supposedly because of his daddy issues, but what those are is never clear.
Mehta Sr seems to be a mix of obdurate (he refuses all help) and caring (he cooks meals for Amay); eccentric, but not particularly hateful.
Shiv is due to leave for the US with his daughter, but due to a ticketing glitch, is forced to spend two days with Amay. They behave like they are in a Neil Simon play.
In spite of the bafflingly vague script, the film still sparkles when the two actors are together on screen, and how that moment will play out is unpredictable -- will they laugh together watching a comedy on TV (Laurel and Hardy, how many remember them?) or squabble for no apparent reason.
As it meanders along with Amay dealing with career, girl and daddy problems, the film cannot decide what it wants to be -- a comedy, an emotional family drama or just a slice of life in the city, when a freak rain shower, a blackout, a dripping ceiling or an elderly man's possible descent into dementia can come up and bite a man, who was just trying to go about his life with nothing more challenging than matching a tie with his shirt.
It must have been tough for Avinash Tiwary to stand up to Boman Irani who unpacks his actor's carton of eye-twinkling, dimpling, scene-stealing tricks. But he plays Amay straight and sincere and the two complement each other.
They make the viewer care for how their lives turn out.
The film may have elements that don't quite fit but there are little moments that hold up the structure and save it from collapsing.
The Mehta Boys streams on Amazon Prime Video.
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