102 NOT OUT

102 Not Out: Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor's crackling chemistry cannot enliven this film

It would have worked better if the plot didn't get preachy in the second half

102-not-out

The premise of 102 Not Out that sees Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor share screen space after 27 years, was clear from the day its first teaser came out—Bachchan as Dattatraya Vakharia is a lively 102-year-old man, enthusiastic with life and disappointed by his 75-year-old son’s approach to life. He considers his son “thakela, pakela”… someone who is scared of both life and death.

Vijay Raaz as the narrator of this story of the father-son duo describes Dattatraya as a centenarian who doesn’t consider himself to be more than 26 years old. His son Babulal, on the other hand, is 75 and doesn’t pretend to be anything else but that. Kapoor as Babulal lives up to that image—a frown on his face, anguish, frustration and such fright of death in his mind that he can’t miss going to the doctor on a single day.

Dattatraya must change this. The plan is to threaten Babulal of either changing his way of life by accepting some challenges, or face the consequence of going to an old-age home.

Based on a Gujarati play written by Saumya Joshi, the story begins on a good note—a relationship between an old son and an older father that still has a scope to evolve. To change things in Babulal’s life, it is imperative to revisit the cause for his panicky persona. It begins with a challenge for him—to write a love letter to his dead wife, whose story appears in many parts of the film. However, that’s the only mention of a female character—we never see Kapoor's wife, not even on the walls of the ancestral family house—besides a house help making fleeting appearances in a scene or two. In fact, the only photo that you once see on the walls is of a younger Dattatraya, that is Bachchan.

It seems director Umesh Shukla hasn’t tried hard to see the story through cinematic lenses. Even if some dialogues are chuckle-worthy and some scenes arouse a burst of emotions, the plot mostly remains too contrived—especially because it refuses to come out of the confines of being a stage play. Most of the action happens between the two lead characters, with the occasional appearances of a medicine vendor, Jimit Trivedi, whose expressions are confusing to say the least. And, the big house, a property that becomes a catalyst in taking forward the story, is underutilised as a set.

(Mild spoilers ahead)

Talking of property, this wouldn’t be the first film to have explored souring of parent-child relationships over conflicts related to property. In 2016, the Kannada film Thithi wonderfully explored it with a set of non-actors. Coincidentally, that too featured the conflicts of four generations of men from a family, the oldest again a 100-year-old.

Not to say that the present film has any resemblance with it, but that’s one of the films one can think of by the time the second half kicks in. The instant thought is also how in India, irrespective of which part of the country you belong to, property-related issues evoke similar sentiments. For instance, a particular scene which portrays Babulal and his refusal to pass on his property because of so and so reason is met with claps and whistles. Probably, that is what the director was rooting for, that’s why the drama, or rather melodrama, was added.

But in the larger scheme of things, you feel 102 Not Out would have worked better if the story was as fun as the trailer promised, and had stuck to two old men rediscovering life all over again. Instead, it gets a little preachy, starts questioning the moral values of children, and on the way becomes uneven. Somewhere before the intermission, the director loses grip, even with the presence of two acting powerhouses like Bachchan and Kapoor.

Film: 102 Not Out

Director: Umesh Shukla

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor

Rating: 2.5/5