Review: Watch 'Patiala House' if melodrama is your thing

Film: Patiala House (U)
Director: Nikhil Advani
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and others
Rating: ***

Patiala House gets going only after the interval. Till then, writers Anvita Dutt Guptan and Nikhil Advani (also the director) take forever to set up the story, based in London’s Southall area.

Parghat Singh Kahlon aka Gattu (Kumar) is the timorous offspring of Gurtej Kahlon aka Bhauji (Kapoor), who hates the goras for racist attacks on Sikhs, one of which killed a family member years ago. As a teenager, Gattu was the next big thing in English cricket but had to give up his dream because Bhauji was against it.

Seventeen years later, Gattu is lost — a “shadow of a man”, as one of his cousins says. He is the oldest among 20 or so cousins, who live together in Patiala House under the tyrannical rule of Bhauji. The cousins hate Gattu for never standing up for himself, making their life miserable in return.

An opportunity to represent England and some egging on by Simran (naam toh suna hoga?) leads to Gattu giving his dream another shot. But will Bhauji come in the way again?

Patiala House is Akshay Kumar’s best film in recent years, but then you know what the competition has been like. The film has a few things going for it, even as Advani and Guptan try their best to ruin the material at hand.

On one hand, the presence of real cricketers like Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Kieron Pollard and Graham Gooch adds some authenticity to the proceedings. But then you have ex-English cricketer Nasser Hussain speaking in Hindi, which reminds you of those firang junior artists in films about the British Raj.

Also, you are not surprised that English cricket isn’t doing well — getting a spot in the team seems like a walk in the park, even for a cricketer well past his Best Before date.

While the melodrama tugs at your heartstrings in places, Advani chooses hyperbole over subtlety, a trait best left behind in the 1990s. Also, clichés and extremes abound.

Gattu is the underdog — we get that — and the story rests on him realising his dream, but the obvious effort to make him out to be a loser almost through the film seems forced.

And impossible as it may seem, Akshay Kumar overdoes the ‘underplaying the role’ bit most of the time. Having said that, he shines in certain scenes, giving a glimpse, after ages, of what he is capable of as an actor.

The portions about the fight against racism waged by the younger Gurtej Kahlon (Kumud Mishra, impressive in a bit role) are interesting.

The interactions between the cousins, and Gattu’s scenes with the little boy who tries to persuade him to live his dreams, are cute.

The cricket scenes are — thank heavens — tastefully executed, though the climax could have been more exhilarating.

Sharma as Simran breathes life into every scene she appears in, her zest complimenting Kumar's quite demeanour.

Kapoor suffers on account of poor characterisation, but pro that he is, he manages to salvage things to a large extent. Kapadia’s presence in a role that is an almost exact replica of Jaya Bachchan’s in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is confounding. 

The thing that works in Patiala House’s favour is that you walk in to watch an Akshay Kumar film with such low expectations nowadays that a film bordering on mediocrity is a pleasant surprise. Patiala House falls in a similar bracket, as Advani throws away the opportunity to make a real tearjerker.

Give the film a shot if formulaic melodrama is your thing. Patiala House has it in abundance.