As
it
meanders
along
The
Mehta
Boys
can’t
decide
what
it
wants
to
be
—
a
comedy,
an
emotional
family
drama
or
just
a
slice
of
life
in
the
city,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
More
often
than
not,
when
an
actor
chooses
to
direct,
he
picks
a
script
that
gives
him
a
great
part.
So
it
is
no
surprise
that
Boman
Irani
dominates
The
Mehta
Boys,
which
is
directed,
co-produced
and
co-written
by
him
(with
Alex
Dinelaris).
He
has
a
terrific
introductory
scene
in
which,
having
just
lost
his
wife,
Shiv
Mehta
walks
into
a
room
full
of
mourners
and
greets
them
mechanically,
for
a
moment,
not
even
recognising
his
son
Amay
(Avinash
Tiwary).
Then,
without
any
background
or
context,
the
film
goes
into
a
contentious
relationship
between
father
and
son.
Amay’s
sister,
Anu
(Puja
Sarup)
plays
a
reluctant
peacemaker
between
the
bickering
men.
Amay
had
left
his
parents’
home
in
Navsari
and
moved
to
Mumbai,
where
he
works
at
firm
of
architects.
His
boss
Sen
(Siddhartha
Basu)
has
heart-to-heart
conversations
with
him
but
we
wonder
why
he
pays
him
because
Amay
is
not
living
up
to
expectations.
There’s
a
co-worker,
Zara
(Shreya
Chaudhary),
with
whom
Amay
has
a
maybe-maybe
not
romance.
His
problems
are
supposedly
because
of
his
daddy
issues,
but
what
those
are
is
never
clear.
Mehta
Sr
seems
to
be
a
mix
of
obdurate
(he
refuses
all
help)
and
caring
(he
cooks
meals
for
Amay);
eccentric,
but
not
particularly
hateful.
Shiv
is
due
to
leave
for
the
US
with
his
daughter,
but
due
to
a
ticketing
glitch,
is
forced
to
spend
two
days
with
Amay.
They
behave
like
they
are
in
a
Neil
Simon
play.
In
spite
of
the
bafflingly
vague
script,
the
film
still
sparkles
when
the
two
actors
are
together
on
screen,
and
how
that
moment
will
play
out
is
unpredictable
—
will
they
laugh
together
watching
a
comedy
on
TV
(Laurel
and
Hardy,
how
many
remember
them?)
or
squabble
for
no
apparent
reason.
As
it
meanders
along
with
Amay
dealing
with
career,
girl
and
daddy
problems,
the
film
cannot
decide
what
it
wants
to
be
—
a
comedy,
an
emotional
family
drama
or
just
a
slice
of
life
in
the
city,
when
a
freak
rain
shower,
a
blackout,
a
dripping
ceiling
or
an
elderly
man’s
possible
descent
into
dementia
can
come
up
and
bite
a
man,
who
was
just
trying
to
go
about
his
life
with
nothing
more
challenging
than
matching
a
tie
with
his
shirt.
It
must
have
been
tough
for
Avinash
Tiwary
to
stand
up
to
Boman
Irani
who
unpacks
his
actor’s
carton
of
eye-twinkling,
dimpling,
scene-stealing
tricks.
But
he
plays
Amay
straight
and
sincere
and
the
two
complement
each
other.
They
make
the
viewer
care
for
how
their
lives
turn
out.
The
film
may
have
elements
that
don’t
quite
fit
but
there
are
little
moments
that
hold
up
the
structure
and
save
it
from
collapsing.
The
Mehta
Boys
streams
on
Amazon
Prime
Video.
The
Mehta
Boys
Review
Rediff
Rating:
