102 Not Out review: A fun but RIVETING father-son tale!

Movie: 102 Not Out

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Jimit Trivedi, Mukesh Hariawala

Director: Umesh Shukla

Producer(s): SPE Films India, Treetop Entertainment and Benchmark Pictures.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Why can’t being a senior citizen be as fun as being a child? To what extent you must hold on to the past? And, what about a handful of unrequited feelings too? These are the questions that the Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor-starrer 102 Not Out raises, all while making us laugh, making us cry and make us feel every other emotion in between. This was an unusual bro pair comeback movie, and we think that the gamble might just pay off!

So, let us give you our take on it!

Dattatraya Vakharia (Amitabh Bachchan) is a 102-year-old man who lives in the eastern side of Mumbai with his son Babulal (Rishi Kapoor), who is 75 years of age. As is already known from the promos, one is seen embracing life in its totality while the other has accepted the fact that the end is near. Bachchan’s Dattatraya is a man who is hell bent on breaking the record of the oldest human being alive, for which he has to hang around for the next 16 years, which he intends to do by living life to the maximum extent possible .Babulal, on the other hand, has already starved himself of all the pleasures of life. In order to be able to live life to the fullest, the father decides that’s it’s best if he sends off his son to an old age home, in order to avoid adopting his attitude towards life. Babulal, being the kind of man who gets the jitters at the very thought of as much as changing his bed sheet, gets naturally petrified by the idea of changing his place of residence altogether and does whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.

In this story, which would belong to the slice-of-life genre, Umesh Shukla has delivered some of the most riveting scenes, which, although are predictable in nature, are something that move you immensely, courtesy the natural father-son like camaraderie that the two most iconic and legendary artists that we have around, Kapoor and Bachchan, bring to the table. We must say that this is a very unusual pairing comeback film that the duo have chosen, because honestly, we were having a hard time imagining the two as a father and son duo due to the long standing history that they have, which made us shift our focus time and again to the fact that it’s a father-son story and not that of two buddies who are going through the same phase in life, because if you are getting Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor together, it’s very easy to be bent towards a story in that space.

Speaking of the two legends who power this film throughout, words are not enough to express our gratitude on their part of taking on the audacious decision of doing what they did, and we think we now understand why. The film is powered with multiple enunciations and nuances by the two that make both the characters simply adorable.

While all we see is the camaraderie of the father-son duo on screen, it’s screenplay, dialogues and direction play as much as important a part in making 102 Not Out an experience like none other. You get taken deep into the emotional turmoil of the situations, which, to those who will look for it, provide an insight into the repercussions that an elderly citizen faces as a result of the hateful acts that most the children today perform on them. Also, for those who will get it, the film may very well serve as a spin-off to the events of Baghban. But, the point that Shukla is trying to drive across is crystal clear in the midst of it all, which is that being a senior citizen could be as fun as being a child again, should one at least make an attempt towards it.

All in all, 102 Not Out will make you laugh, cry and even perhaps be very emotionally shaken by the turn of events. In fact, after seeing the film, one might recall an old movie that had Mr. Bachchan in it. For those who are curious for a clue, the previous film also stars who turned out to be one of the biggest superstars of today’s times.

But, a fair warning, you might feel a bit of a reduction in the pace of the second half of the post-interval section yet again, as one does with many films.

A must watch!