A warm, messy family portrait held together by sharp direction and fine performances.
Verdict tier Recommended, most critics liked it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
Critic consensus
Kapoor & Sons received a broadly positive critical reception, with most reviewers praising Shakun Batra's direction for its tight, emotionally layered handling of a dysfunctional family drama and commending the ensemble performances across the board. Critics frequently highlighted the film's ability to balance humour with genuine dramatic weight, and several noted the authenticity with which it portrays the tensions and imperfections of family life. The most recurring criticism was directed at the climax, with multiple reviewers finding it rushed or overly convenient relative to the nuanced character work that preceded it, and a few felt the film's depth and character study remained incomplete. A small number of critics also noted tonal unevenness in the second half.
8 not-rated reviews aren't plotted
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 36 critic reviews · may contain errors
Report inaccuracyFrom the papers
Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Top critic
Film review ·
Director Shakun Batra keeps it all on a tight leash and skillfully mines the multiple conflict points as much for the humour inherent in them as for the dramatic frisson that they generate. Kapoor And Sons is intense and incisive in its observation of human inadequacies but is always entertaining.
Top critic
Film review ·
Shakun Batra's sophomore effort is a finely, intelligently crafted film which stumbles because of its eagerness...
Top critic
Film review ·
Sidharth brings to the table a loose-limbed pleasing vulnerability which he reveals slowly. Fawad plays his straight, and he doesn't lift off the screen. Rishi gets some laughs in.
Film review ·
...all credit goes to director Shakun, who holds together the cast like a perfect photo in an album. His sensibilities in this family drama will certainly set a new benchmark.
Film review ·
...is supple and smooth, with lots of rough edges and highs and lows. It's a perfect family movie.
Film review ·
Kapoor & Sons offers cent percent entertainment but beyond that it also serves as a powerful lesson on the importance of relationships in our lives.
Film review ·
...makes for an excellent movie that you must watch with your entire family. This film is Beautiful kar gayi Chul!
Film review ·
The Kapoors are not a perfect family, but you will love and accept them with their flaws. Go watch this one.
Film review ·
Kapoor And Sons is a must watch, touching, entertaining family drama that you just can't afford to miss. Book your tickets as soon as possible, this family entertainer is that good!
Film review ·
...an entertaining and touching film about our closest relationships, and the inevitable pain that arises from such closeness. However, it saves its most important message for its most attentive viewers - healing is ultimately a choice.
Film review ·
For the want of a better term, Kapoor & Sons is an emotional roller coaster. It's a tear jerker for sure, but also features the intricacies of a middle class life. No dark secrets here, but the shock value is definitely there. You'll love it for being spontaneous, precise, fast paced and well...lovable. A fantastic family drama after a long time.
Film review ·
Kapoor and Sons beautifully delves deep into human emotions and easily makes it as one of the finest films of the year so far.
Film review ·
Watch this. It might remind of your own family issues and make you a bit squirmish but is also largely feel good and entertaining.
Film review ·
This is a film that celebrates the dysfunctional family, gamely accepting it as a part of reality, with each member uniquely glorious with all their idiosyncrasies and imperfections. The film suitably ends on a note that is symbolic of most families; at least the more interesting ones- they are all perfect in their imperfections.
Film review ·
Like the family its penetrates , Kapoor & Sons neither purports to be a perfect nor a seamless family drama. It does something far valuable. It takes all the flaws and imperfections of a dysfunctional family and transcreates them into a drama of muted grievances and unspoken recriminations.
Film review ·
This is absolutely the most gut-wrenchingly personal, mainstream film on an urban Indian family that I've ever seen. Yet, for the number of twists and turns that take place in the plot, or the story-line as it were—between four main characters who are together for as many as four or a few more days—the film runs the risk of you zoning out eventually and noticing merely the extraneous things that make this picture so much fun after all.
Film review ·
...the direction, frequently evoking Monsoon Wedding, keeps things family-focused, with a moving camera and characters in meltdown. Wicked, witty and wise, Kapoor & Sons does Karan Johar proud. Because it's about loving your family - sharp edges and all.
Film review ·
Shakun Batra proves that there is no substitute for good writing – the story is compelling, the dialogues are well written and the casting is perfect. The music is refreshing and just blends in never disrupting the narrative. Watch 'Kapoor & Sons', it will make you laugh and cry and will leave you with a smile.
Film review ·
The humour balances out the uneasiness. The joy of celebration temporarily delays the members from facing the music. You are reminded of all the times hushed conversations snuffed problems in corridors and every time we have all found respite in an escape than resolve in a confrontation. At the same time, the family is not wholly forgiving and keeps it human that way!
Film review ·
'Kapoor & Sons' isn't flawless but those are absolutely ignorable. And with the perfect ingredients mixed, this platter makes for a delectable watch this weekend. Go for it.
Film review ·
The expectations hoisted on being the perfect child in an Indian family are wonderfully told in this film. Kapoor & Sons flourishes as a unit and is the sum total of mature performances by the entire Kapoor clan.
Film review ·
...underneath all the brilliance of Kapoor And Sons, there lies the problem of the quick-fix solution. Half of Batra's film is a lesson in embracing the imperfections and searching for a proper solution to them. Therefore, when the story uses that very hasty, knee-jerk climax to get things in place, it comes across as a betrayal.
Film review ·
Kapoor And Sons is a modern-age family drama. It does not shy away from being emotionally soppy yet convincingly lovable. You could laugh, cry and smile through this one!
Film review ·
Watch Kapoor and Sons to celebrate your imperfections. Here's a perfect ode to being imperfect...how definitions dampen life. Live in the moment and enjoy every bit of the carnival we call life.
Film review ·
Kapoor & Sons is an absorbing layered family drama...
Film review ·
...the story manages to descend bare into the psyche of audiences with debonair imagery tied with picturesque beauty, keeping you mesmerised. After a while, if you wish to see a congenial movie with a bottom of gravitas sans the glamour and glitz, then you must not miss 'Kapoor and Sons' since 1921.
Film review ·
'Kapoor and Sons' is a film with soul that takes you back to your roots, reminding you how much you love your 'imperfect' family in the most perfect way. It reflects upon the changing times and yet holds the ground of family-love perfectly. It brings back the feeling you get while watching 'Kabhi Khush Kabhi Gham' sans over the top drama.
Film review ·
This mix of old-world family drama told in a new-age way with contemporary and young nuances does hit the right chords off and on, but overall, the script changes graph jerkily in the second half just when we feel things are trekking back to course slowly for the harangued characters.
Film review ·
Is there any family without little cracks and big gaps? In a small town of Kunoor, inside a traditional bungalow, a family faces many struggles. But there's always love to tide things over, and that makes for a very watchable popcorn treat.
Film review ·
Watch Kapoor & Sons for Alia Bhatt's naughty, funny moments, for Rishi Kapoor's hilariously perfect acting, for Sidharth Malhotra and Fawad Khan's brilliant performances. But more importantly, watch it to see a drama that is packed with emotions and tiny heart-melting moments that are sure to leave you with a smile and a hazy view. Make sure you go with your family at least once.
Film review ·
It's a ticking time bomb, but one that fizzles out in the end.
Film review ·
Kapoor & Sons is hilarious, heartwarming and heartbreaking rolled in one. It does not wear its social conscience on its sleeve, but make no mistake about this: it has one. This is a disarmingly entertaining, thoughtful film that evokes a fuzzy feeling of warmth. It left me with wet cheeks, a smile on my face and a chuckle welling up in my throat at the memory of Daadu.
Film review ·
Kapoor & Sons walks the tightrope between traditional Bollywood melodrama and a more evolved variant of the same, but its balance is all over the place. As a genuine tearjerker, I found it too superficial; as a study of characters, it felt a little incomplete. All I took away was a handful of warm and fuzzy moments. In most of them, a real-life Kapoor was present.
Film review ·
Kapoor & Sons is an entertaining film for the youth and the families, mainly of the cities, and for the multiplex-frequenting viewers. It will not be able to do much in the single-screen cinemas and in small centres but its business in the cities and multiplexes will be big enough to make the film a hit. As it is, around 70% of the total investment has already been recovered from non-theatrical sources (satellite, music and Internet rights).
Film review ·
This family may not be happy in the beginning, but you know there's going to be a happy family shot in the end. This might be the new-age family drama, but the message is still the one Bollywood has drilled into us all these years – it's all about loving your family.
Film review ·
Strong performances and charming characters compensate for a lack of depth and acuity in Shakun Batra's movie.
Film review ·
Like Piku, Batra brings the family, parent-child relationship under the scanner in Kapoor & Sons but he doesn't quite rebel against or throw away the construct entirely. He questions the family only to reassert its primacy.
From our readers
35 ratings · user score 7.2
Kapoor and sons (since 1921) is about two brothers Arjun (Siddharth Malhotra) and Rahul (Fawad Khan), their dreadful life which is filled with problems- Family problems. The duo are able to mediate disputes between their mom and dad. And also mollify out their blood pressure. In the film Alia (Tia) is a girl who falls in love partially with both. But later it is shown that Arjun makes a place in her heart. And we get to know that Rahul is homophobic and does not loves Tia. Now, when it comes to my impressionistic choices about what's exceptionally good in the film is the music (comprising of party anthems and sentimental virtuoso). The music lends extravagant cheerfulness to the film. And gags which are meretricious, as they have a double meaning beyond the limits. And also Alia who deviates her character after the interval. She looks much like a teenager. But you will easily get past this as she is idyllic, intrepid and dishy (especially in shaking legs and waist in her dancing). She dazzles. Fawad and Siddharth are impressive rather than pretty. Both are handsome. While the duo fails to maintain the brothers trust and camaraderie. Yet they are well made and have appropriate quality in them. Old man Rishi Kapoor is conversant with his archaic look. It's crikey! He is an elating grandfather who talks in an adult comedy mode – simply speaks double meaning and unintelligently. The mom and dad too suffice their character deeply. The film flies like a plane soaring in the 1st half. But precariously loses the grip and becomes dull in the later half. Direction is fairly appreciable and enough for a good family movie to watch. Dharma's 'Kapoor and Sons' is a good hearted grandiose family entertainment. While the plot is akin to that of 'Dil Dhadakne Do'. By virtue, it is a superficial display about family squabbles and a tendentious opinions to interpret them fairly. I am giving it 3 stars.
A totally compelling family drama!!
Just a couple of hours more before arch rivals, India & Pakistan draw swords in Eden Gardens in the mother of all clashes. So before that high stakes match, I decided to check out "Kapoor & Sons" which coincidentally also focused on clashes but within the family. Actually whichever reviews that I had written for Bollywood movies this year, it's all been enactment of real life events, so I was looking forward to check out some light-hearted mirth for quite some time & this one seemed to fit the bill. So was it able to satiate my expectations??? Nestled in the lush green scenic beauty of Connoor was the house of Amarjeet Kapoor (Rishi Kapoor) & his family. He was a nonagenarian who was always upto some tricks to garner the attention of his son and daughter in law. Eventually, he suffers a heart attack and expresses his desire to see his estranged grandsons. Rahul (Fawad Khan) was the elder & was the personification of the perfect son with a successful career as a best selling author based in London. On the other hand, Arjun (Sidharth Malhotra) was struggling to make a name for himself to match his brother as he felt his parents harboured a soft corner for Rahul. Even their parents relationship was in rough waters as Harsh (Rajat Kapoor) & Sunita (Ratna Pathak) frequently fought over their finances and fidelity issues. Will this disharmonious family ever be able to resolve their arguments before it tears them apart??? The biggest positive of the movie is the realistic take on family problems without ever going over the top & we do actually feel for the characters. All credit for that goes to Shakun Batra, who did give us a rather distinct rom com in the form of "Ek Main Aur Ek Tu" a couple of years back. Over here, in the company of Ayesha Dhillon, he has weaved a script which is both hilarious & emotional at the same time. The manner in which the climax unfolds with numerous relationship issues does make us sit up for sure. With regard to the technical aspects, music has been done by a host of people with my favourite tracks being "Bolna" & "Buddhu Sa Mann". As for the visuals by Jeffrey Bierman & editing by Shivkumar Panicker, both of them have done a decent job. Talking about performances, it's kinda difficult to rate them coz I felt all of them have done a wonderful job. Ratna Pathak was fantastic as she shows vulnerability & haughtiness with ease while Rajat Kapoor as always rocked. Fawad Khan is the one who actually got the meatiest role which had numerous layers to it and he has done a fine job along with Siddharth. Rishi Kapoor's prosthetics might not be exactly top notch but he brings the roof down with his hilarious one liners while Alia Bhatt did justice to her spunky role. Verdict: With the T20 WC in full swing, the initial that the film might garner over the weekend will be affected for sure. However, at just 2 h it wont hurt to check this out as it would make you laugh & teary eyed over the course of the movie. In short, it is not thrilling as an Ind-Pak match but it does have its moments which deserves a one time watch!!! Rating: 3/5 Regards...Ben
Whoever said old-school is passé probably didn't watch Kapoor and Sons. Much in the vein of 2001's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kapoor and Sons is a good old-fashioned tearjerker that plays to the gallery. Where director Shakun Batra's film stands out, however, is in its recognition of the need to draw a fine line between subtlety and saccharine vacuousness. Well, for the most part, at least. The film captures the ebbs and flows of modern Indian family life – in all its chaotic and tempestuous glory – with startling attention to detail. Fawad Khan and Siddharth Malhotra play two brothers – one a well-established writer in London, the other a struggling wannabe author who works as a part-time bartender in New Jersey to eke out a living. Both are summoned back to their home in the picturesque hill station of Coonoor where their grandfather (played by Rishi Kapoor) has recently suffered a heart attack. Skeletons come tumbling out of never-before-discovered closets in the wake of the aforementioned family reunion, making this family question everything that it once stood for. Where Kapoor and Sons really succeeds is in its rich character detailing – each of these people comes with his own baggage of lies, insecurities and desires. It's the perfect recipe for a feel-good familial drama, and Batra utilises this goldmine of emotions to create a well-textured tale of hope and redemption. The performances are uniformly impressive, but it's Rishi Kapoor's heartwarming portrayal of an ageing family patriarch that stays with you long after the end credits have rolled. Kapoor and Sons is certainly predictable, but it is also heartfelt, sensitive and deeply moving. In short, it makes you believe in the power of family again. Because sometimes, all you need in life is love.
'Kapoor & Sons', until come anything else which is a better thing put together, is the best Hindi film of 2016. Yes, because of its deep writing, but also because of its heartwarmingly charming premise which is more consuming and absorbing than any family film Bollywood has made up. Its emotionally constructed and charming drama which lifts off in style and formation. Shakun Batra proves that he weaves out the best family dramas possible, even though it is his directorial debut. Starring Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, Rishi Kapoor, Fawad Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor, it's about a dysfunctional family- with conflicting thoughts, cnflicting emotions, conflicting interests (and love interests), and turbulent souls. But at the end, they are a family- they are happy when they are together, and when they aren't, they are broken. It's a genuinely to-heart story which deserved such a dazzling, fair of colours filmmaking. I'm going with 4 stars of 5 for 'Kapoor & Sons- since 1921'. It's a lovely film which sucks into you in a fun rhythm.
Credits
Sidharth MalhotraArjun Kapoor
Fawad KhanRahul Kapoor
Alia BhattTia Singh
Rishi KapoorAmarjeet Kapoor
Rajat KapoorDad
Ratna Pathak ShahMom
Vikram KapadiaShashi Chacha
Sukant GoelWasim
Edward SonnenblickDan
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