Patiala House

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Prem Chopra, Hard Kaur, Rabbit Sack C, Soni Razdan, Tinu Anand, Kumud Mishra, Jeneva Talwar

Director: Nikhil Advani

It takes us just five minutes to get the hang of this film’s narrative structure. It is as nimbly paced as a fast bowler playing cricket in a wide open field trying to avoid all the roar and din of the cheering crowds in the stands. For a film that has a surprisingly large number of characters (after the 23rd Sikh Briton running up and down the wooden staircase I stopped counting) the noise decibel is surprising low. The clamour of a crowded Sikh household in London never overpowers the emotional kernel of this film.

The delicate supple bonds that grow among people, who are not just mal-adjusted in a foreign land but are also spiritual and emotional misfits in their own household, are brought out in vignettes that show the hand of a confident storyteller. Nikhil Advani’s admirable episodic structure of “Salaam-e-Ishq” failed because of its inordinate length. This time Advani takes no chances with the length. Economy of expression is paramount to the effectual storytelling in “Patiala House”. Not that Advani shies away from taking risks. The self-assured manner in which he aggregates the characters in a house run by a patriarchal Sikh in Britain (Rishi Kapoor, firmly in command) without crowding and asphyxiating the canvas shows Advani’s deep empathy with the characters who drift into his range of vision. At heart, “Patiala House” is a father-son story. Akshay has done them before. One immediately recalls Suneel Darshan’s “Ek Rishta” where Amitabh Bachchan was the father who drove son Akshay to a state of smothered silences. In “Patiala House” Akshay’s silences scream in wounded protest every time papa Rishi Kapoor’s iron hand falls on the boy’s dreams. In many ways the screenplay (Advani, Anvita Dutt Guptan) is a compendium of cliches despotic dad, timid mother (Dimple Kapadia), unfulfilled son, encouraging girlfriend, her precocious surrogate-son (he reminded me of Kajol’s boy in My Name Is Khan). Advani converts familiar characters into real believable warm endearing characters whose lives begin to matter us as we watch them in their Southall setting.

The historic data about the Sikh community in Britain is kept at a bare and bearable minimum. The narrative never feels the burden of the cross-cultural migratory journey made by the plane-load of characters. And that’s the film’s USP. Even as the peripheral characters make a fleeting but coherent impact (Rishi Kapoor’s pregnant daughter-in-law’s anguish at watching her husband being treated like a doormat is as apparent to us as the family’s daughter Hard Kaur’s tattoo on the arm), we are constantly seeking out the next chapter in the repressed Gattu’s wretched-going-on-glorious life. Akshay plays Gattu with a restrain that never shies away from tears. Every time he thinks of his ruined dreams a trickle of a tear comes down from the side of his cheek. It isn’t done for effect. Akshay embraces Gattu’s shattering dreams and makes them his own. Is this Akshay’s finest performance to date? For the sheer mastery over the heart and soul of his character and the dignity he brings to the loser’s character, yes, this is Akshay’s best.

Akshay and Rishi don’t look like father and son. And that’s the best compliment one can pay to the film’s theme. How can they look like a family, when the father has spent all of his son’s growing years denying the boy’s sense of the self? Oh, Rishi is a bellowing volcano of arrogant prejudices. Brilliantly bravura as always, Rishi almost echoes the tyranny of Prithviraj Kapoor. Player kiya paida to darna kya? His sudden reformation at the end is unconvincing. The unhurried grace of the rest of the film gives away to an urgently-claimed culmination. One can’t blame Advani for abandoning the pace at the end. He knows the audience wants a hurried send-off. Anusha Sharma remains effervescent in her volubility. But she needs to play a less talkative character. Though scarce, the moments between Akshay and Dimple are very precious. There is a specially evocative sequence at the hospital when the invalidated Rishi Kapoor tells his screen-wife Dimple Kapadia to shut the door on their screen-son Akshay’s face.

The film has some exceptionally emotional moments bolstered by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s resplendent background score. Santosh Thundiyil’s cinematography adds precious little to the proceedings. London doesn’t seem to come alive beyond the cricket field. The editing (Manan Sagar) could have been less generous. Portions of the narrative lose their energy. Before it sags, the director swoops up his characters’ dreams into curvy shapes. The narrative never loses its way in the maze and clutter of the characters and ambitions.One can't deny the fact that audience is well prepared for the mandatory high, low and ending points of 'Patiala House'. You know that Akshay would be hesitant to pursue his cricket dreams all over again, you know that entry of Anushka in his life would be a motivating factor, you know that his family would rally around him, you know that initially his father (Rishi Kapoor) would be against him, you know that Dimple will stand besides her husband only to come up with a final outburst (a la Jaya Bhaduri in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham') and you of course know that eventually all would be well! With all such predictions/assumptions actually coming true, one may wonder what really makes 'Patiala House' tick? Well there are two factors here classy treatment and performances. Due to the kind of stereotypes that have been built around Punjabis, it would have been the easiest way out for the writers to incorporate 'sarson ka saag', 'Punjab ki mitti' and 'makki da saag' into the narrative. However none of that actually happens in 'Patiala House' as 'being Punjabi' just stays on to be one of the many factors that keep the story ticking.

Instead, the film arrests you right from the opening sequence where Akshay indulges in some net practice all by himself. He is not a looser here; he is just someone who is on the verge of loosing total self confidence in him and could well reach a nervous breakdown as he continues to be haunted by his father's decision. His lonely lunches, lack of love life and 'let me stay in the background' attitude only sucks him deeper into depression which is a complete departure from the carefree image that has been built around him for years now. On the other hand as the Head of the family, Rishi Kapoor is someone who knows how to have his way even as it crosses the boundaries of being selfishly protective. From someone who kept himself on the back foot for the sake of his family (in 'Do Dooni Chaar') to the man who leads from the front without even giving his family's emotions a second thought (now in 'Patiala House'), Rishi Kapoor demonstrates a good range. Any points where one would have wished a tighter grip? Well, after the character establishment and the background setting, one would have expected the drama to move a wee bit faster. Also, one would have wanted the push for Akshay to resume cricket a little harder and with far solid reasoning. Also, one misses Anushka (spunky all over again and extremely effective in each of her scenes) when she goes missing for large part of the second half. On a different note, one also expected some tender moments between Rishi and Akshay so that the father-son relationship could have looked far stronger. Here, it just seems as an act of respect more than anything else. Also in the second half, the entire plan around Akshay's identity being hidden from his father seems a bit too far fetched.

However this is compensated by some drama that stays on to be subtle with 'Patiala House' turning out to be one of those rare films in recent times that maintains a 'thehrav' right through it's narrative. In fact it is apparent that director Nikhil Advani's funda was clear - he didn't want anything over the top or out of the ordinary for this fourth film. Instead he wanted to bring a different depth to his characters and treatment, something that makes 'Patiala House' different from rest of it's ilk. What compliments the going-ons in the film is the music and background score. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy spin some good tunes with the one that tops the list being Kyun. Others keep the momentum going as well while 'Laungda Lashkara' rounds up the film well.

Eventually, what you take home after 'Patiala House' is through is a nuanced performance by Akshay Kumar who indeed silences his detractors once for and all. He may have gone by the demand of the market and done back to back laughter entertainers during last few years. However with 'Patiala House' he announces once again (after milestone films like 'Jaanwar', 'Dhadkan', 'Ek Rishta', 'Namaste London') that if he wishes, he can go subtle and underplay his character well too. 2011 may have just started but with 'Patiala House', Akshay has made himself a good contender already when awards for the best of the best are announced. And yeah, for the sheer effort by the overall team which instead of going overboard about the inherent classiness that the film carried kept it all low and allowed the product to talk about itself, 'Patiala House' wins for itself an additional quarter of star.Patiala House comes at a time when both the leading man Akshay Kumar and his director Nikhil Advani are quite desperate for a success. Akshay's last few films haven't exactly set the cash registers ringing and Advani is yet to taste success after ditching the Karan Johar SRK camp after his debut Kal Ho Na Ho. On the other hand, leading lady Anushka Sharma is yet to taste failure. All her films (Rab Ne, Badmaash Company, Band Baaja) have worked at the box office. Can the Anushka factor bring luck to the film? Let's find out Patiala House is about Gattu (Akshay Kumar) who is torn between the love for his Bauji (father) and his passion for cricket. Bauji who has suffered from racial abuses and jailed for violence has deep hatred towards the British. His hatred is so strong that he stands in his son's way, when Gattu gets a chance to play for the English Cricket team. Enter Simran (Anushka Sharma) who re-ignites Gattu's passion for the game and pushes his families thinking against Bauji. Will Gattu realise his dream, his passion and play for England?To use popular journalese, the peg of this Patiala (House) story is British racism of the early '90s. This is around the time Indians and various other coloured minorities were targeted by white skinheads in the increasingly multi-racial neighbourhoods in the UK.

A young sardar had stood out then as a Martin Luther King figure of sorts. He'd fought against goras, built a community around Sikhs. The film's set in South Hall, a London neighbourbood infinitely more popular than South Mumbai for locations in Hindi films (the euro is still valued at Rs 60-plus, the producers can do the math around movie ticket sales). The said sardar, an old man, is South Hall's current 'sarpanch' (Rishi Kapoor on a sensational second wind of his career, you can tell). He's a fanatic: Someone who wouldn't change his opinion, and won't change the topic. He hates the Brits, or the whites. Why he still chooses to live in the British capital, pay taxes to the Queen, the filmmakers don't deem fit to explain. A prominent victim of this reverse-racism is the sardar's own son, who once gave up his cricketing dreams of bowling for England. The father wouldn't have it otherwise. He'd commit suicide, if his kid did anything, besides a sundry clerk's day-job at a corner-store.

The old man's own love for cricket is unquestionable. He loves the late Lala Amarnath. He watches every game that India plays at the local community centre. Was he ever to take the infamous British 'Tebbit's test' that checks on fan loyalties of British migrants when England plays a country of their origin, he'd fail it. He'd support India instead, for sure. He's clearly unopposed to sport or cricket itself. For the love of Lala, it's hard to figure why this dad would entirely ignore his son's unbelievable bowling talent at such young age. Even the great Nasser Hussain remembers the mohalla boy's swingers from back in the day. Ship him off to Punjab for Ranji Trophy, if county or England cricket's such an issue, no? No. Because that son's Akshay Kumar. This film wouldn't be made otherwise if we began muddling ourselves up with issues like these. Neither would a quarter of Mumbai's film industry find a freelancer's job, if this indefatigable hero rolled out any less than five movies a year. If anything, this is one of the best of recent Akshay Kumar flicks, from a rapidly expanding annual inventory, of course. Tees Maar Khan, about a month ago, was his last.

This leading man is 34 by now, hasn't played any competitive cricket in 17 years, has merely practiced alone to an unguarded wicket. There's a God. He's also Sikh, and belongs to the England selection committee. He instantly finds this mid-aged fast bowler a place in the national T20 squad. The boy (which is what adults in cricket teams are supposed to be) immediately earns tabloid sobriquets 'The Punjab Express' etc first game onwards. The father doesn't know. Here's why. Relatives and friends conspire to keep it from him. Front pages of his daily newspapers are changed everyday. Cable connections are switched off at the time of matches. And this is one colourful Yashraj London Ludhiana family from the '90s having a blast. They number over a dozen, rotate around a strict dad (Amrish Puri's unfortunately no more), everyone's incredibly Indian in their accent and manners, obsessed with group dances, and big fat weddings. It's all wonderfully joyous. It is. So is the actor Anushka Sharma, the chirpy young thing, who plays the leading man's love-interest. She's easy on the eye, equally easygoing in her ways: something that's begun to delight her audiences lately (Band Baaja Baraat, Badmaash Company). Speaking of her love for life and movies, she says in the film, show me a picture where the hero has no back-story, and I'll show you a flop. Fair enough.

This picture of hers does have a back-story. Whether it matters at all, is the point. Or, maybe not. The Brit-Indian cricketing hero never faces the Indian team in the world cup either. A real conflict in a story can be avoided too. It's all good, this Patiala peg. Just chug de phatte! We're all about Bollywood and cricket 'n' all, innit? Firstly the story is dumb why does Bauji continue to live in a country, whose citizens he hates? Why not simply move back to India? Also, which father would want to break his son's dream of playing international cricket no less and instead want him to turn into a shopkeeper? Pretty dumb isn't it? But moving on, the film will be loved by those who love melodrama and family oriented movies. Patiala House does at times go over the top, but what is the most important for a film of its genre is music, performances and hitting the right note with emotions. And that's exactly where it scores big. It has good music, great performances and a heavy dose of emotions that should work well with the viewers. And yes, for the first time since Kal Ho Na Ho, director Nikhil Advani is in complete control! Patiala House should silence his critics and Akshay Kumar's too! The actor is in terrific form and his performance is a refreshing chance over the buffoonery that he overdid in many of his last films. Whether it is playing Gattu the family man or a cricketer, Akshay excels!

Anushka Sharma, who has great screen presence, does very well and effectively supports Akshay. Rishi Kapoor is loud and irritating at times, but then again, he adheres to the requirement of his role. The many supporting characters, all of them well-handled by Advani, perform well too.