Binny And Family bridges the generation chasm

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Every generation thinks that it is the best. Clashes, or generation gaps, happen when minds are not open—to change, to truth and to genuine rather than cosmetic respect. Gaps then become chasms! So honesty is always the best policy. And when emotions collide with relationships, there is an explosion within us.

Binny And Family is undoubtedly among the most elevating and heartwarming movies of this year. The messages you take home are multiple, and mercifully, the in-your-face preaching is just a little bit. It is all about—essentially—the interaction between the almost Anglicized Binny a.k.a. Bindiya (Anjini Dhawan), who has moved from Pune to London when she was very small, and is the apple of the eye of her mother, Radhika (Charu Shankar) and father Vinay (Rajesh Kumar, the Roshesh of Khichdi fame). Of course, Radhika and Vinay do try to keep her in check when she, as a typical modern London kid, tends to exploit the freedom she does get from her parents. If Bindiya does not always rebel, she isn’t always submissive either.

Binny’s family is originally from Bettiah, a small town in Bihar, where her paternal grandparents, S.N. Singh (Pankaj Kapur) and Sharada Singh (Himani Shivpuri) still live, and the former is a professor. Every year, for two months, they visit their son, and that is when Binny’s life and world go for a toss. Her tastes in music, her outings with friends until late night, her dresses and more—all have to be modified or curtailed. Her very private space—her bedroom—also has to be shared.

Not that her parents aren’t affected, either. The bar has to be changed into a bookcase, pictures on the wall hidden or exchanged, and their lifestyles and attire also ‘Indianized’ to appeal to the conservative small-town Indians. For Binny, all this put together is the ultimate in claustrophobia.

In the latest visit, Sharada has a respiratory issue due to the London climate and needs medical attention. The older Singhs thus limit their visit duration and return. But back in Bettiah, Sharada’s condition again worsens. Vinay offers them immediate treatment and tickets at his expense back to London. Anjini explodes, and this time Radhika supports her, while asking Vinay why he cannot go back to India and look after his mother’s treatment that can be done in Patna itself. Anjini, besides the ever-present extracurricular activities, also has to study for her exams and thus needs space.

Vinay lies to his father that the medical advice from Dr. Ghosh (Gandhar Babre) in London is to ideally avoid plane travel and himself travels to Patna. But Sharada passes away and suddenly Anjini is guilt-stricken. Vinay tells his father to move to London, and her guilt forces Anjini to try her best to help him come out of depression. And what happens next between grandfather and granddaughter forms the rest of this wonderful film.

Anjini Dhawan, granddaughter in real life to 1970s hero Anil Dhawan (his son Siddharth Dhawan’s daughter), is perhaps the most sparkling debutant lead actress this year. With an amazingly mobile face and quicksilver expressions, she makes Binny a very real and lovable teen, who does everything she can for her grandparent and slowly and surely becomes his best friend. The climax can bring both a lump to the viewer’s throat and tears to your eyes.

Pankaj Kapur delivers another mammoth performance as the initially uptight but intrinsically affectionate S.N. Singh. His scenes with Anjini in the latter part of the film show a chemistry that is rarely found among two actors. This actor, 40 years after his debut, has immensely grown, irrespective of the kind and genre of characters he portrays. Karamchand, Office Office, Dus, Maqbool  and more—the man never ceases to surprise.

Charu Shankar as Radhika, Rajesh Kumar as Vinay and Himani Shivpuri as Sharada are all outstanding. Making a big mark also is Naman Tripathy as Anjini’s best friend, BP, while Tai Khan is effective as Dhruv, her love interest.

Ssanjay Tripaathy does a brilliant job as director and screenplay writer, and dishes up a real and relatable story that focuses on something Hindi cinema has almost never done—the bond between a grandparent and grandchild. Naman Tripathy doubles as a dialogue writer (maybe for the younger generation lingos) with SSanjay and their lines are fantastic. Vishal Mishra’s song, Zindagi, is dull, but Lalit Pandit’s background song, Kuch hamare kuch tumhare, is brilliantly written (again by Ssanjay himself) and outstandingly sung by Sunidhi Chauhan.

Technically upscale and completely non-gimmicky, Binny And Family is a refreshing change from what is running in Hindi cinema. It shows that a true-blue happy family needs to be unconditional in its respect and affection and that no generation is so perfect that it cannot learn from either tradition or modernity.

This is a strongly recommended film for Indians in India, NRIs as well as everyone else.

Rating: ****

Mahaveer Jain Films & Balaji Telefilms in association with Shashank Khaitan & Mrighdeep Singh Lamba present Binny And Family  Produced by: Mahaveer Jain, Ekta Kapoor, Shashank Khaitan, Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, Neetu Mahaveer Jain, Amarnath Jhunjhunwala, Shikha Sharma Ahluwalia & Gaurav Bavdankar  Directed by:Ssanjay Tripaathi  Written by: Ssanjay Tripaathi & Naman Tripathy Music: Lalit Pandit & Vishal Mishra  Starring: Anjini Dhawan, Pankaj Kapur, Himani Shivpuri, Rajesh Kumar, Charu Shankar, Tai Khan, Naman Tripathy, Tai Khan, Gandhar Babre & others