102 Not Out

102 not out is a movie that is based on a play. If you look at the scene order of the movie and the way it has limited premises, you do feel the play nature in the content. But the ultimate story has a sense of positivity and we have two extremely talented veteran artists playing the pivotal characters. 102 not out is that movie which you will like even though you can recognize the flaws in the structuring of the screenplay.

Babulal Vakhariya is a 75 year old man who has accepted his old age and decided to live on with no excitements towards life. But on the other hand, his 102 year old father Dattatraya Vakhariya is a full on energy bundle and he is living life with unimaginable level of positivity and energy. One day Dattatrya decides to send his son to an old age home as he found him a depressing character that won’t help him in achieving the task of becoming the oldest man ever to live on earth. How that decision changes the life of Babulal is what 102 Not Out talking about.

Like I said the scene order of the screenplay here is not that gentle in pacing. It jumps from challenges to challenges very abruptly. But the sequences they have created here is hilarious. Through minimal gestures and dialogues the movie keeps us occupied in its space. The shallowness in the writing is covered up by the spirited performance of the duo Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor. Because of that you kind of understand the feel of the “goodness” filled story.

I really think our senior actors should see these kinds of films to understand how old age can give them a chance to explore various characters with different conflicts. Rishi Kapoor plays a boring widower and after the initial comical shades the movie gradually gets into the emotional space of the character and the actor delivers it so beautifully. Amitabh Bachchan on the other hand is energetic and delivers the lines with impeccable timing. But on a making level that character is a bit confusing for us. I don’t have the authenticity to comment on how a 102 year old man should look like, but there was a conviction issue with that character. The only other prominent character in this male dominant universe of Umesh Shukla was Dhiru played by Jimit Trivedi and his expressions and slang does add more humor to the narrative.

After an impressive start with Oh My God, Umesh Shukla went on to deliver an absolute dud named All Is Well. Well he seems to have understood the mistake to an extent and has played it wise here. The treatment is calmer now. Camera is either static or is moving calmly in trolleys. The movie is set mostly inside the house of the Vakhariya’s. Saumya Joshi’s writing has the issues getting addressed, but the drama like feel in scene creation is evident.  Towards the end him and the director manages to add a positivity to the tale without making it look cheesy and to an extend the “Anand” inspired Amitabh Bachchan character helps the movie in achieving that. Music was nice. Prosthetic makeup wasn’t that great as we could clearly see it in certain unevenly lighten scenes.

102 Not Out is that YOLO feel good movie with an average screenplay and fabulous performances from its leading men. It’s not flawless; in fact you can find a lot of issues in the writing. But at the end you will root for those characters.

Rating: 3/5