Tikdam is a crisp and inspiring fable

- ADVERTISEMENT -

A very perceptive and cheerful soul I have known recently told me an all-encompassing truth of life: “My true wealth is my family. My true legacy is my children. They do not need mere material things from me. They need my time and affection.”

Jio Studios’ Tikdam reinforces my friend’s axiom of a happy life. Prakash is a hardworking man in a hotel in the small town of Sukhtaal (a fictional spin on Sukhatal in Uttarakhand). He is a widower who lives in a content household with his sweet children, Samay (Arisht Jain) and Cheeni (Aarohi Saud) and parents (Ajit Sarwotam Kelkar and Nayan Bhatt), but is often chastised by his mother for not earning sufficiently. This is because his brother (Sharat Sonu), who has moved to Mumbai, is seemingly doing very well.

Samay and Cheeni both have their modest demands as innocent kids and so, when the bad news comes that the hotel is closing down due to losses as there is reduced custom, Rose (Jennifer Piccinato), the hotel owner, impressed by Prakash’s loyalty, offers him a good position in her Mumbai branch. He will get a great pay package that can help the family fulfill all their aspirations.

Prakash goes there for three days to check things out, is paid an advance and gets gifts for his kids and parents. But this brief phase proves too much for the adorable children. Even as Prakash discovers that his brother is not doing all that well in Mumbai itself, back home, the two kids enlist the help of their brainy yet devious friend, Bhanu (Divyansh Dwivedi) in trying their level best to prevent Prakash from leaving them and going away. In a beautiful sequence wherein Prakash asks his kids if birds and animals do not go away to get food for their ‘babies’, the kids’ reply is “But they come back every evening!”.

In the process, the kids even analyze why the tourist trade in the town has dwindled and the hotel is facing closure, and initiate a series of environmental-friendly moves—the charm of the hill resort has gone down as, for starters, the climate has warmed up and there is no snowfall.

Of course, we have a fairytale happy ending, and even the grandmother realizes that there is something more in life than mere pelf and comforts and even chides her well-to-do Mumbai son who has chosen to live away to make money.

A cheerful and crisp 117-minure delight that will warm the cockles of everyone’s heart, Tikdam also delivers welcome homilies on how not to destroy our environment or pollute it with firing crackers and other environment-unfriendly practices. These messages come alongside, as the plot cleverly connects the father’s potential absence with damage to Nature that is the direct cause of his losing his job there.

The realistic drama is laced with humorous outings of the three children and their schoolmates and everything is kept charmingly riveting and believable: at no point do the children emerge as superheroes or achieve the implausible: this is this delightful film’s best quality. The train climax is a sole concession to formulaic storytelling but is yet done very credibly.

Amit Sial does a terrific turn as the absolutely lovable and well-intentioned Prakash. A man known for dramatic characters in OTT series and even suave villainy, he shows his range and caliber here. He is perfect as a soft-spoken, gentle man who is battling several odds, torn between affection for his kids, his mother’s frequent remonstrance and his responsibilities as the bread-earner. The three kids are just fantastic and among the three, Aarohi Saud as Cheeni deserves nothing less than a National award! Her expressions are magnificent and her code language and the fluency with which she utters it is incredible.

Arisht Jain as Samay is lovable too and Divyansh Dwivedi as Bhanu is a hoot. As for Ajit Sarwotam Kelkar as Daadu (the grandfather), he is terrific as well. The lyrics (by Vivek Anchalia, the director) remain simply and pithy (Teen tigada, Zindagi hai yeh, Gubbare and more) and the music pleasant, if not memorable.

Vivek is a great captain of the ship and an astute writer who has delivered powerful messages here in a sugar-coated way. Do not miss this lovely journey into family bonds and core values. Along with Binny And Family last week, here’s a toast then to stories that warm the cockles of the heart and project and elevate the cheerful, purposeful and noble side of we human beings.

Rating: ****

Jio Cinema presents Jio Studios’ Tikdam  Produced by: Jyoti Deshpande, Parth Gajjar, Poonam Shroff, Savio Shenoy & Shweta Sharma Anchalia  Directed by: Vivek Anchalia  Written by:Animesh Verma,  Pankaj Nihalani & Vivek Anchalia Music: Daniel B. George  Starring: Amit Sial, Arisht Jain, Divyash Dwivedi, Arushi Saud, Jennifer Piccinato, Ajit Sarwotam Kelkar, Nayan Bhatt, Sharat Sonu & others