Parivarik ManuRanjan

जिस फिल्म से अली अब्बास जफर, पंकज त्रिपाठी और अदिति राव हैदरी जैसे बड़े नाम जुड़े हों, उससे उम्मीद भी थोड़ी ज्यादा हो जाती है, लेकिन इस मामले में उनकी ताजातरीन पेशकश ‘पारिवारिक मनुरंजन’ एक साधारण सी टाइमपास भर साबित होती है। Sony LIV पर रिलीज इस फिल्म में पंकज त्रिपाठी और अदिति राव हैदरी की नई-नवेली जोड़ी आकर्षण का केंद्र जरूर बनती है, लेकिन ज्यादातर किस्सों और किरदार में दोहराव के चलते नयापन महसूस नहीं होता।

The quiet life of Ranjan Dubey (Pankaj Tripathi), a kind-hearted 40-something bachelor in Lucknow, changes when he hires a mysterious woman named Helen (Aditi Rao Hydari) as his live-in house manager. As romance blossoms, town gossip and Helen’s past threaten to test their bond. The casting is generally apt, though, much like the storytelling, it plays things a little too safe and risk-averse, denying the film some spunk and character. Pankaj Tripathi bags a role that fits his persona to a T, and he breezes through it with ease. Aditi Rao Hydari, ever since Kaatru Veliyidai/Cheliya, has increasingly been cast in roles where she plays a woman waiting to be saved by a man. Though she does well here, the repetition in her choices hurts the impact. Brijendra Kala and Sunita Rajwar lend warmth to the film in familiar roles that do not break new ground. Mukesh Tiwari, meanwhile, does not leave a lasting impression.

Parivarak ManuRanjan is about a soft 40-year-old bachelor, Ranjan Dubey (Pankaj Tripathi), who grows feelings for his new housekeeper and property manager, Helen (Aditi Rao Hydari). He is single because he spent his life getting his sisters married off; his duty is over, he works at the electricity board and lives alone. The story unfolds in the gossipy bylanes of Lucknow. If you close your eyes and think of a nosy neighbour, it’s a failure of Hindi cinema that Sunita Rajwar instantly comes to mind. Blame this setting and voice-over on Gullak, the virtuous protagonist on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Raksha Bandhan, and the thorny premise on Rohena Gera’s Sir. This romantic comedy aims to be warm and feel-good, but there’s something uncomfortable about the way it stages its social framework. You don’t have to be woke to see through its nature.

लखनऊ में बिजली विभाग की नौकरी करने वाले रंजन दुबे बड़े-से मकान में अकेले रहते हैं। तीन बहनों की शादी करते-करते खुद 40 के होकर भी कुंवारे हैं। मकान और अपनी देखभाल के लिए वह एक केयर टेकर हेलन को नौकरी पर रखते हैं तो लोगबाग तरह-तरह की बातें करने लगते हैं। हेलन घर के साथ-साथ रंजन के दिल में भी जगह बना लेती है। लेकिन जल्द ही पता चलता है कि हेलन तो असल में मनु जोशी है जो कहीं से भाग कर आई है। कौन है वह…? लुटेरी दुल्हन तो नहीं…? कहां से भाग कर आई है…? क्या मकसद है उसका…? क्या मनु और रंजन की यह पारिवारिक कहानी आपका मनोरंजन कर पाती है…? आइए जानते हैं।

Lucknow is clearly the new flavour of the season: ‘Parivarik ManuRanjan’ which takes its job of being a ‘family-oriented film’ very seriously indeed, is the third or fourth recent film set in UP’s historic capital. But it’s also an enterprise which has taken to heart the recent insistence on the city’s vegetarian version, given just how lacking the two romantic leads are in hearty red blood cells. Pankaj Tripathi and Aditi Rao Hydari, let loose in a large kothi in the city’s well-known ‘Chowk’ area, are the very epitome of wholesomeness, without a single lustful thought crossing their minds.