BOTTOM LINE
Warm and Easy to Watch
PLATFORM
Prime Video
RUNTIME
1 Hour and 56 Minutes
What Is the Film About?
Amay Mehta, a 20s-something architect, struggles to make his presence felt at work, even as his girlfriend Zara pushes him to aim higher. When his mother passes away, it’s decided that his father Shiv will move abroad with his sister Anu. Shiv reluctantly agrees, only for the trip to be postponed by a few days. For the time being, Shiv and Amay need to put their strained equation behind them.
Performances
Boman Irani is aptly cast in a role tailormade for him and he does a wonderful job in not making Shiv Mehta any other a cold fatherly caricature. After a superb 2024 with commendable performances in Madgaon Express and Sikandar Ka Muqaddar, Avinash Tiwary brings another complex, messy character alive through Amay and gets the viewer to empathise with him.
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Analysis
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Father-son dramas make for juicy viewing when there are two polar opposite characters and the plot focuses on their ideological clashes that spruce up proceedings. However, what if a film has two equally passive, emotionally distant characters (who’re nothing but different variations of one another) and the director still makes an engaging drama out of it? That’s The Mehta Boys for you.
Amay Mehta and his father Shiv Mehta are typically nice Gujjus, but they just don’t click as a father and a son. The only possible icebreaker between the two – the mother – is no longer alive. While a career-driven Amay has a lonely life in a flat in Mumbai, the father is emotionally attached to his house, where he holds onto his past – with a typewriter and umpiring cricket matches of his colony kids.
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As Shiv decides to move to Florida with his daughter Anu (after his wife passes away), the plan is briefly stalled, during which he has to stay with his son. The stop-gap arrangement offers a timely opportunity for the duo to relook at their equation. The decision to leave for the US also means that the scope for communication between the father and the son is bound to get smaller over time.
Despite the morose and potentially soapy premise, where a father and a son bury the hatchet over a few bitter-sweet experiences, Boman Irani (who makes a sparkling directorial debut) treats the drama with a gentleness – interspersing its heaviness with the effortlessly breezy treatment. Without diluting the value of the situations, the humour provides a welcome break in between their tension.
The unexpressed trauma in their lives is brought out well and the writing is consistently tongue-in-cheek. The duo gets into trivial verbal banter, watches Charlie Chaplin movies together, eats at a luxury restaurant (commemorating Shiv’s birthday), nearly meet with an accident and luckily escapes a ceiling from collapsing on their heads in the middle of an unusual rain in Mumbai.
The father-son bond also helps Amay better himself at work and rediscover himself. Amay’s work life as an architect (connecting it with his roots) is portrayed with enough authenticity, and his character’s evolution adds value to the proceedings. Even the little characters—say, the collaborative boss and the supportive girlfriend—leave their imprint.
The Mehta Boys picks a cinematically popular, relatable idea and uses the death of a pivotal character as an emotional hook to craft something very intimate, personal and engaging. The warm, unfussy treatment, minus any melodrama, makes it imminently watchable even with a plot centred on grief and moving on. The compact narrative ensures that its elasticity is not stretched beyond necessity.
Boman Irani, the director, is here to stay!
Performances by Others Actors
Bandish Bandits girl Shreya Chaudhry in a minimal yet impactful character delivers the goods and so does a fabulous Puja Swarup, who tries to handle a tense situation between a father and a son. Beneath his stern exterior, Siddhartha Basu is incredibly effective in bringing a certain likeability to his role. Harssh A Singh in a brief but crucial sequence delivers a fine performance.
Music and Other Departments?
Gulraj Singh’s breezy music score – while also enhancing the impact of a situation, without overpowering it – is a certain value addition to the film. Cinematographer Krish Makhija masks the budgetary limitations around the project with a smart choice of locations and terrific framing, ably supported by the production designer. Editor Charu Sree Roy ensures a gripping, free-flowing narrative in spite of the crisp runtime.
Highlights?
Boman Irani, the director and the actor
Unique treatment of a familiar story
Rich characters, a fine balance of drama and humour
Drawbacks?
You always know where is this headed
A few convenient resolutions
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes, an ideal watch with family
The Mehta Boys Movie Review by M9
