Directed by: Umesh Bist
Streaming on : Netflix
Cast: Sanya Malhotra, Ashutosh Rana, Aasif Khan, Rajesh Tailang, Raghuvir Yadav, Nakul R Sahadev, Jameel Khan, Sheeba Chadda, Meghana Mallik, Ananya Khare, Chetan Sharma, Shruti Sharma, Sharib Hashmi (Sp.App), Sayani Gupta(Sp.App)
Surprise of surprises!! A Netflix original collaboration with Balaji Telefilms with no sex, no obscenity, no foul language !!! Are we dreaming ?
A simple uncomplicated story about an unexpected death of a young newly married man in an upper middle class household. The death shatters the family members and several relatives flock the house to be a part of the thirteen day funeral rituals/ rites. What surprises everyone is the young widow has no grief to express and is herself unable to accept the fact that she’s not sorrowful about the untimely demise of her husband of five months ! Leading to several situational comical proceedings the movie also highlights feminism in its brightest form.
Bist has handled the bittersweet storyline with consummate brilliance. You won’t find any over the top shenanigans here, the ensemble cast is handled very well. This is like an offbeat movie minus Ayushman Khurrana, and the best part is there is no hero or a male dominant role. It’s Sanya playing the young widow carrying the entire movie on her able shoulders, full marks to this young girl who not only portrays her role efficiently but also very responsibly carries the movie smoothly and effortlessly. 
With a run time of hardly two hours there’s no dull moment, and there’s no sex, no vulgarity and nothing that could make you cringe, nice to see Ekta Kapoor producing a wholesome family entertaining original for a change. It’s a bonus to the makers that the uncles and aunties, cousins and friends all look so original and authentic in the movie. A serious theme of Death being dealt with humour (black comedy here, one rare genre in our country) isn’t an easy task. Thankfully there’s nothing offensive in the way the makers have conceptualised it on screen.
One also gets a generous dose of feminism here, no complaints though. Sanya’s feisty yet sensitive character oozes femininity in its finest and most loved form, maybe an average actress would’ve fumbled and messed up the role but Sanya heightens the superiority of her performance here. Ashutosh Rana, Raghuvir Yadav, Sheeba are brilliant and use their experienced skills to great effort. Chetan Sharma and Shruti Sharma are also effective. Sayani Gupta yet agains proves that length of her role makes no difference to her humongous talent. 
One very important character, that of the dead man is conspicuous by his absence throughout, not even a photograph is displayed. It gives you that Rebecca in “Rebecca” kind of feel. And that only adds more intrigue to the storyline. And how can one possibly miss Arijit Singh’s debut as a music composer, his songs are beautifully inculcated in the story, they literally carry the scenes forward, Singh’s music has that 90s Rahmanish feel to it. 
Good attempt in the slice of life Offbeat cinema genre, certainly worth one time watch at-least.
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