The Mehta Boys — A Film Review

What an amazing piece of art I just saw. Written with such flavour, savouring every emotion. While watching the movie I started noting down the beats that I liked, but soon I realised Boman Irani hasn't missed much. His brilliance shines in the first few scenes itself.

1. After his mother's death when the son meets the father for the first time, he shakes his hand and tells him "Thank you for coming" just like he has been doing with every other guest who has come to pay their respects. Maybe not out of contempt or unintentionally but purely because he doesn't know what else to say to him. They have never crossed the threshold of being acquaintances to each other.

2. When the son is going to see his dead mother's body for the first time, He is already very emotional. The father, couldn't help himself in spite of the situation and out of the sheer habit of correcting others, asks him to remove his shoes before going inside.

3. The sister asks the Dad to come with her to America. Dad doesn't really want to go with her, maybe he has a desire to stay in India which means staying with his son. Cricket being his only solace against loneliness, he expresses his desire to stay in India by asking his son that they would not play cricket in America right? what do they play instead. Son replied in all his ignorance, that he would not know, maybe Baseball.

4. Sister invoke the sake of her mother to make the two Mehta boys spend the next 48 hours with each other.

Every best in the script is just on point. As if Irani had given himself a mandate of not letting even an inch go to waste.

Everyone and everything has been added with a purpose. The boy is an architect and you could love through the ideas around design in his mind and literally smell the paper. The resolution of conflict happens so much in sync in the boy's professional life and in his mind.

My only gripe in the film were closeup shots, just right to show the emotion, done very well by just the perfect casting of actors, but the angle was all wrong. Came out really odd at times. Also, the songs wherever they used it, looks like someone just added a placeholder and forgot to edit it later.

There is beautiful detailing in writing. The Hand break, the red color tirpal and veil, the light fixture, the food in the fridge, the house where the boy stays. Everything is a distinct character in the film with their distinct arc.

I always like to quote that the state of your room always resembles the state of your mind.

The character arc of the boy's house manifests this for me.

The beginning of the film emphasizes that there are already things ingrained in the us of our parents, which we just casually acknowledge and think nothing of, as the boy does when his boss compliments on being early to a meeting, he says that means I am on time as per my father.

As we go through the film, neither parent nor child is trying to be a villain just trying very hard to do better for the other, while not realising that that might just not align with how the other wants to live. Even then, it doesn't matter how hard we fight what our parents, after a while we start becoming them.