The After Hrs review: 'Chhodo Kal Ki Batein'

Film: Chhodo Kal  Ki Batein
Director: Pramod  Joshi
Cast: Anupam Kher, Sachin Khedekar, Mrinal Kulkarni,  Atul Parchure, Anjan Shrivastava
Rating: **

It's not a novel subject nor does it presume to be. But what makes the story of Aditya Pradhan, a workaholic and short tempered IT professional  stand out in Chhodo Kal Ki Baetein is the sensitive way it has been handled.   Aditya played brilliantly by Sachin Khedekar is a self-centric businessman who has no time for his family. He even misses his daughter's aarengetram — a Bharatnatyam dance performance to negotiate a 100 crore deal in his office. This upsets his wife Sakshi (Mrinal Kulkarni) who along with the daughter goes  to her mother’s home  for a couple of days. Though this angers Aditya, he is more concerned about getting the deal signed, the following day.

However, to his utter bewilderment he finds that the D-day never arrives – He is stuck in a time warp.  The incidents in his life keep repeating in the same order several times.  On the verge of losing his mind,  he lands up meeting  a stranger Benaam Kumar who despite being blind acts as his guiding light and changes  Aditya’s vision  towards life.   Anupam Kher as Benaam Kumar has put in a good performance and  peps up the proceedings. Yet, the film is a bit of a drag in the second half.  The  sameness of the situations, which raise a chuckle initially, start grating after a point. 

The film, however, scores in its dialogue, which is simple but effective.  Overall, a commendable effort by director Pramod Joshi who has made the film as a bilingual in Hindi and Marathi.