There are certain scary truths in our lives, we are very much aware of, but they are consciously ignored as we are not able or willing to do anything about them continuing with the routine life.
Couldn’t get it……. allow me to disturb you further mentioning some blunt truths beautifully portrayed in this small, well-made gem that might be an eye-opener for many.
A. Have you ever realized that the number of houses we have bought and the cars individually used by every member of our family have actually disturbed the childhood of our own kids?
Probably we very well know the fact but avoid thinking about it as we cannot do anything but ignore.
The buildings rising around us like wild poisonous mushrooms and numbers of cars parked in their covered areas have actually eaten up spaces where our kids could play and have a healthy start of their life, getting into the much important physical activities. But sadly they are now forced to play games like cricket, football, badminton and more with their thumbs on digital screens instead of playgrounds.
The film makes us realize the irreparable mistake we all have made in these past few decades……. with no probable solution in the future.
B. Have you ever realized that the ‘high paid’ jobs given by the corporate houses (situated far away) providing office laptops for homes (stealing more than 12-14 hours of our day) have slowly and smartly turned us all into impotent zombies……… remaining falsely satisfied with the paycheck received every month avoiding the thought of coming out of this cunning trap.
The film raises a loud alarm for the same and asks us to give it a fresh thought!
C. Have you ever realized that even after going through several issues living in a joint family, having continuous fights with our elders due to various personal and ideological differences, they actually still remain our main source of security and strength in life with no replacement possible of any kind!
The film reminds us once again of this eternal truth and guides us to love them even more, particularly looking after the ageing, helpless parents in their remaining time.
As a film TU HAI MERA SUNDAY sincerely tries to convey these messages through all relatable characters and sequences making a loving connect. But it all does begin after a while when the characters slowly make a kill, 15-20 minutes into the film impressing with their natural performances.
Mainly talking about Mumbai, it’s actually the story of every city and colony facing the same kind of clashes, where people even get killed in fights over parking spaces or kids playing on the busy roads.
It’s the same feeling of freedom whenever someone moves out of an overcrowded metro city for a vacation in an open hilly area enjoying more breathing space …. as if stepping out of a match-box to get some fresh air.
Revolving around five protagonists and their interlinked stories presented in a slice-of-life form, THMS is amazingly a film from a first time director Milind Dhaimade that largely works due to its solid writing, execution and performances along a fabulous cinematography. The well-chosen cast looks simply perfect in their given roles and they together put up an entertaining as well as enlightening show emotionally complimenting each other. Without being unfair naming any one person above the other, I would like to congratulate them all with a deserving mention of the girls, who remain much ahead of the boys truly owning their scenes.
To clear an unnecessary confusion, it does talk about friends meeting on Sundays for a game of football, but the film is not about football at all, using it only as a connecting reference.
With a motive of inspiring you further to essentially watch this gem, THMS actually took me back to the cinema of Sai Pranjpe and the soothing comfort felt watching her light hearted, realistic films like CHASHME BUDDOOR and KATHA. A few sequences seemed to be straight out of that relaxing era when eyes and expressions used to talk….. instead of camera angles, VFX and gadgets. Watch out for the romantic first date scene in the coffee house, another first meeting sequence caused by a rat, the night conversation between the younger brother and his elder brother’s fiancé, the introduction scene of two innocent kids and the mother-son fights ending on an heartfelt note.
Having said that, the biggest drawback of the film remains its questionable choice of title, which though suits the storyline but isn’t anything that can excite or bring in the viewers, influencing them to try an unknown or lesser publicized film (with extensive use of English) visiting a costly multiplex. Stating the common demerit of almost every film nowadays, the songs sound okay but you do not get any melody to take back home. And it needs to be seriously understood that even good lyrics work only when they are aptly accompanied by a likable melody.
In all, THMS has sufficient merits to be rated as a must watch Hindi film featuring many known faces you have been appreciating in many recent short films and famous web-series. But at the same time, it’s really awful to see such worth watching films given only one show a day and that too in a few selected multiplexes far away in the city at the same high priced tickets depriving the viewers from such good cinema.
Rating : 3.5 + 0.5 / 5 (Including the additional 0.5 for bringing forward the issue of lack of playgrounds in the cities that might trigger something somewhere in somebody sitting in the inner power circle.)
