0 Mail Print We are Family review: Kajol & Kareena make it worth the tears Sonia

Chopra Movie: We Are Family Director: Siddharth P Malhotra Cast: Kajol, Kareena
Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Avg user rating: It's all about loving your family: A famous
quote by Karan Johar that gave enough fodder for teasing and spoofing his
emotional stance! Special: We Are Family | Kajol ready for comparisons with Susan
Sarandon Quite natural, then, for Johar to adapt Hollywood's Stepmom into a Hindi
multi-starrer and naming it We are Family. The characters live in Australia, yet
constantly speak impeccable Hindi. It's a spooky world where little girls are gifted
tiaras and wands, and the boys (wearing glasses, naturally) are presented books
and telescopes. The demarcation is clear; and the story cements itself as an oldfashioned, sexist one. We see divorced couple Aman (Arjun Rampal, half-awake) and
Maya (Kajol) at their child's school annual day. Their little girl Anjali (cute as a
biutton, Diya Sonecha), in the middle of the act on stage, spots her mom in the
audience and says 'Mama, hiii!'. It?s a touching moment, and the film has a few
more. Aman's character is a mixed one: He's clearly not a hands-on dad, preferring
to meet his three children over the weekends. He also insensitively chooses little
Anjali's birthday to introduce his new girlfriend Shreya (Kareena Kapoor) to the
family. So while you dislike him for a display of insensitivity to everyone in his life,
you admire his faithful friendship towards his ex-wife, even as he drops everything
to be with her when she's diagnosed with a terminal illness. Maya then hits upon
the idea of warming up her kids to Shreya whom they hate, so she can take over as
their replacement mom. But the dialogue is a let-down. Each character keeps
saying, "Tum aisa nahin kar sakti, you can't die," to Maya, as if it were a choice. And
then, when Maya is convincing Shreya to give taking care of the kids a shot, Shreya
shoots back, "Main ek career-woman hoon, mom-type nahin." It?s a ridiculous bit of
dialogue; outdated and one that an entire span of working mothers will wonder
over. Again, the whole trip about the urgency of finding a substitute mother is
strange when they have their father hale- and-hearty. It again reinforces the cliche
that you need another woman to pack the kids' lunch and pick them up from school,
and the father, however he may love the kids, just can't manage. The reason why
Karan Johar choose an average film made 12 years ago, among several pathbreaking Hollywood films, is clear. It has amble potential to bring out the tears. And
this film is an unabashed attempt at extracting your sniffs and sobs, and sometimes
the effort at doing so is too apparent. The manipulation shows in scenes like the one
where the kids are ushered in to see their mother, all tubes and pipes, on a hospital
bed. The strategy works; you do cry but not whole-heartedly, more as a reflex
response to the sobbing faces onscreen. In fact, you might let out a tired laugh
when the effort goes overboard. The drone about the teen child who everyone
keeps saying will be the "most beautiful bride in the world" is bizarre. Their
obsession with this 13-year-old's marriage takes a new height when the film
chooses to fold with it, where we see an aged Rampal, and an exactly-the-same
Kareena (in this biased Bollywood trend where women simply don't age; another
example: 3 Idiots) at the wedding of this girl. The Kareena-Kajol combo is explosive,
and the high-point of the film. Their altercations are delicious; one wishes there
were more such complexities instead of the syrupy gloop. You care about Maya's
character in the first place (the only character that really makes an impact) because
no one can exude a warmth, and smile as expressively, emotionally, widely, and

honestly as Kajol. Kareena?s character is a bit wobbly with inconsistencies. But the
actress is in full form, brimming with fire. Arjun Rampal gives a damp performance.
Debut director Siddharth Malhotra serves us old wine in a new, expensive bottle. It's
evident in the characterisation, the dated dialogue, and the choice of the heavyduty background score where you hear a woman's alaap for the most part; a
mainstay in our saas-bahu soaps. If you?ve been pining for an old-fashioned tearjerker, this one's for you.
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