Director Aanand L Rai’s take on love is not your typical Bollywood love story. He brings together an unusual paring in a film that starts on a lovely note.

The story unfolds in Benaras. Kundan Shah (Dhanush), a Tamil Hindu from a relatively lower class family is hopelessly in love with Zoya Haider (Sonam Kapoor), a high society Muslim girl. Their love story takes a turn when Zoya is sent to Aligarh for higher studies, and eventually goes to JNU where she meets Akram (Abhay Deol).

The first half is great. Dhanush, in a fantastic debut, engrosses you in his story. Sonam Kapoor also turns in a favorable performance. The romance plays out beautifully, while retaining that small-town charm of Banaras. Himanshu Sharma’s dialogues are a strong point – witty and memorable. Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, playing Kundan’s friend Murari and Swara Bhaskar, a childhood friend who nurses feelings for Kundan, are both excellent in their supporting roles. And of course, A. R. Rahman comes up with a masterful score.

Which is why once the scene shifts to Delhi in the second half, the film becomes disappointed and frustrated. The unconvincing political subtext drags down the film, not fitting with all that has been shown before. Abhay Deol is just okay in his extended guest appearance. The overall mood of the film is diluted, although the actors still manage to hold it together.

Ranjhanaa is an instantly lovable film, the mood of which is spoilt as the climax draws nearer. Nevertheless, it should be watched for the sterling performance of Dhanush, if nothing else.

I had my apprehensions about Piku, a film which deals with constipation. But as soon as the film started, I was proven wrong.

Piku Banerjee (Deepika Padukone) is a Bengali architect who lives with her father Bhaskor (Amitabh Bachchan), suffering from chronic constipation, in Delhi. His obsession with his poop makes him quite a handful for his dedicated daughter. This endearing father-daughter duo set off to Kolkata with Rana Chaudhary (Irrfan Khan), owner of a taxi business (because a 70 year old can’t shit on planes and trains with alarming frequency, can he?), as a result of Bhaskor’s opposition to Piku’s plan of selling their ancestral home.

Padukone is terrific as Piku, essaying a meaty role with ease. Bachchan makes you fall in love with Bhashkor, bringing in most of the humor, and Irrfan slips into his role effortlessly. Juhi Chaturvedi comes up with an excellent screenplay and dialogues, though the relatively simple plot does fall through in some places. Shoojit Sircar tells the story expertly in a subtle manner, never once going overboard with the drama. The way he handles the relationship between Piku and Rana is brilliant. Anupam Roy’s music adds substance to the film.

There is a lot more to Piku then just constipation. It might seem like a straightforward film, but dig in deeper and there’s some truly fantastic cinema that shouldn’t be missed.