Chopsticks movie review: Mithila Palkar plays as well as she can. At least her character, with a few layers is given something to work with.
Chopsticks movie cast: Abhay Deol, Mithila Palkar, Vijay Raaz
Chopsticks movie director: Sachin Yardi
Chopsticks movie rating: One star
Chopsticks is being touted as a first of its kind – a Netflix ‘original’ Hindi film. It starts off with a hint of promise, with a rooted-in-her-middle-class-values-Maharashtrian-‘mulgi’ Nirma Sahastrabuddhe (Palkar) acquiring her first shiny new car. As we track her chatting with her mom through Mumbai’s crowded roads, the character starts taking shape: Nirma is a rule-abider-and-breaker (talking on the cellphone and driving, while nodding dutifully along with her ‘aai’), a listener of ‘self-improvement’ tips, and clearly someone who is a real, relatable young woman.
When Nirma also reveals her clunky, vulnerable side at the work-place, with a boss from hell, and bitchy colleagues, we can’t help but root for her. But the set-up, which seems promising enough, unravels all too soon to reveal a film which has no idea of what it wants to be: is it a rom-com, a romp-through-big-bad-Mumbai, a coming of age drama…what, exactly?
Palkar plays as well as she can. At least her character, with a few layers (earning professional-Mandarin expert-wanting to get ahead without losing herself—today’s young woman) is given something to work with. At least to begin with. But the all-over-the-place script does no favours to poor Abhay Deol, who seems to be playing someone’s idea of an urbane thief who lives in what seems like an abandoned building with a state-of-the-art-kitchen where he rustles up gourmet dishes, the quality of which could easily please the hard-nosed judges on Masterchef. Huh? Don’t ask.
