Fate brings together strangers Shiv Kumar (Naseeruddin Shah) and Tara Deshpande (Kalki Koechlin) when their respective spouses end up in the same hospital.
Shiv and Tara are oblivion to what life has in store but learn to embrace hope and wait.
Endlessly!
Despite the dark premise, the film is sprinkled with generous doses of humour never allowing for a dull moment. Waiting
Waiting is a finespun concoction of a variety of elements – love, relationships, life.
It makes you ponder over the fragility of relationships despite the connected worlds we live in.
It explores the ever widening generation gap through its sixty and twenty somethings Shiv and Tara.
And blends all these elements into a heartening, un-preachy, sometimes sad, sometimes funny film.
A dialogue by Kalki, for instance, makes a point, “You know how many followers I have on Twitter? Five thousand eight hundred. And how many of them are here right now? Zero.”
To which Shah responds with sincere unfamiliarity, “What is Twitter?” It’s these witty, little conversations that bring alive this film.
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The film is a subtle yet powerful reality check of the times we live in. It quite clearly comes from a personal space of the makers.
Director Anu Menon brilliantly and subtly brings out the sad reality of commercially driven health institutions and the values they impart.
Much of what the film ends up being has to be accredited to the performances.
Rajat Kapoor delivers any part with splendid effortlessness.
As the unsympathetic doctor driven purely by money, he had me loathe him by the end of it.
I wonder if Naseeruddin Shah ever needs to give a retake.
Kalki displays angst and impatience with an equally admirable mad intensity as the calm composure she dons while learning to cope with her reality.
‘Waiting’ is a wonderfully written, executed and acted piece of work that shouldn’t be missed.
Have you seen Waiting? What are your thoughts on the film? Let’s talk in the comments below. Or you can connect with us on facebook.
By Mansi Dutta
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Loved your review…
What a lovely film this was…Naseeruddin Shah neve disappoints…
Naseeruddin Shah is such a delight to watch. He is effortless actor but has a big mouth. His comments on Rajesh Khanna weren’t needed.
I loved this film. Great review btw. Agree with the points you made.