A fine family drama that captures the highs and lows of three generations of a family, Disney + Hotstar’s Gulmohar deals with a whole landscape of emotions. Marking Sharmila Tagore’s return to acting after a 13-year hiatus, this film explores the story of a posh Delhi family set to part with its 34-year-old stately home, and the drama that ensues in its wake.
Tagore is poignant and refreshing as Kusum Batra—the Batra family matriarch—who eagerly announces that she will move to Puducherry once the house is handed over to new builders planning to convert it into a high-rise. Tagore gracefully dips her toes across pressing issues such as homosexuality and having an adopted son, Arun Batra (Manoj Bajpayee).
As the packers and movers wrap their belongings, the Batra family’s insidious secrets come tumbling out of the closet. The members seem to unravel in tandem with their home, drifting across separate pathways into new lives completely disconnected from each other. Writer and director Rahul V. Chittella has played around with warm tones, shadows and mellow lights to intensify the family’s problems, politics and emotional upheavals as they face their demons.
Not just the Batras; their workers, too, become integral to the story, bringing issues like class divide and education to the fore. The complicated love story between the family’s cook and watchman adds depth to an already moving narrative and speaks volumes about the skill and sensitivity of Chitella and his co-writer, Arpita Mukherjee.
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A powerful cast
Each character is carefully written, and the soft direction of the film allows the actors to do justice to their roles. Suraj Sharma, who won the British Academy Award for his role in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012), plays Aditya Batra, the son and heir with a knack for steering clear of his family’s business and building something of his own. But his brainchild, his app, can never quite see the light of day as he struggles to find his footing in the world and match up to his successful wife’s standards. His complicated relationship with his father comes out realistically and beautifully, while the brilliant dialogues help bring out the conflict between generations.
Bajpayee, too, drives the story home—as the perfect son, doting father and good husband. He delivers an engaging performance while traversing through his many roles.
He is complemented by his wife, Indira (played by Simran), the quintessential daughter-in-law trying to hold the family’s threads and keep everyone together. Simran’s subtle yet nuanced performance merges with Bajpayee’s to create a lasting impact.
Engaging subplots
Gulmohar’s only drawback, perhaps, is its multiple subplots. But they wouldn’t take away from your overall experience of watching the film, as each storyline is written so meticulously that viewers feel nothing but deeply engaged. While the first half of Gulmohar seems like an exposition to set the mood and bring various problems to light, the other half is a deep dive into the characters’ lives.
The writers do not desperately weave a happy ending by speeding up the climax, rather allowing the family to find beauty within the cracks as they live, laugh and love again.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)