Big B's appearances on the big screen has been far & few in the recent past after all it makes sense to be selective at this stage of his illustrious career. His previous release was "Shamitabh" in which he rocked & now we have "Piku" lined up for release. With a stellar cast in the form of Irrfan Khan & Deepika on tow; I certainly do have high hopes on this movie. In addition, it is directed by Shoojit Sircar who had impressed with his previous ventures. So will "Piku" pull in crowds especially since the publicity was rather low key???

Piku (Deepika Padukone) is a successful architect who had a tough time managing her career & personal life thanks to her chronically constipated hypochondriac father Bhaskor Banerjee (Big B). He constantly bickered with every individual that he came across be it the housemaid, his helper etc which created persistent headaches & embarrassments for his daughter. Bhaskor was obsessed about his bowel movements & that invariably took centre stage in every topic of discussion with Piku. Just like his other whims & fancies, one fine day he takes the decision to visit his ancestral home in Kolkata & insists on travelling by road. As always, Piku gives in to his wishes & make arrangements for their trip. How this trip eventually pans out forms the crux of the movie.

After having impressed one & all with movies like "Madras Cafe" & "Vicky Donor", Shoojit Sircar is back with his latest venture "Piku" along with his partner in crime, Juhi Chaturvedi. He has once again done a fine job with a subject which we experience at some point of our lives & that is, a shift in responsibility. Juhi has to be appreciated for a commendable script which actually dealt with the serious topic of taking care of our parents but it maintained a light hearted undertone thanks to its hilarious dialogues. As for other technical aspects, the costume designer & make up artists needs to be applauded for Big B & Deepika's appearances.

Big B was fantastic as the grumpy senile individual who made sure that he maintained the meter as there was the risk of overdoing it & reducing the character to a caricature. Since the past year or so, Deepika's career graph has been constantly on the rise with commercial & critical successes, the latter quality unlikely to figure in the report cards of many of the top notch actresses. She has improved by leaps & bounds with each passing movie which explains the reason for her apt portrayal of Piku. Coming to Irrfan Khan, he was awesome as usual & makes his presence felt in an emphatic manner though it wasn't as meaty a role as the other two. As for the rest of the cast, Moushumi Chatterjee impresses while Raghuvir Yadav has done a decent job.

Verdict: Just like "Vicky Donor", this will also grow on the audience with time & will thrive on the positive word of mouth which its likely to garner in abundance. It might seem a bit off-beat but you can rest assured that you will be thoroughly entertained. In short, don't miss this bowel movement!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

I Love All The 3 Characters In This Movie..So Well Written And Well Acted.Very Well Directed By Shoojit.I Kept Asking For More At The End.

Piku Directed by Shoojit Sircar which is behind Vicky Donor and Madras cafe is an unexpected journey which will stand in somewhere between The Lunchbox and Finding fanny in case of charm.The story is simple but the execution make it a must watch.The real life moments in the movie make it different than others.The acting was good too. Camera work is perfect.

Women-oriented movies are a big business now. A few years back, they were scoffed at and consigned to 'women only' category as audience was limited for these targeted movies. Some became a commercial hits but others were the festival stuff or critics' 'delight'. But they were not on par with heroes' commercial movies.

Over the years, matters have changed gradually. Heroine-centric movies are not only being watched, they are doing big business. The heroine is slowly becoming the 'hero'. Each heroine is doing at least one woman-centric film. They are low-budgeted so if they make profit, it is like icing on the cake. Mind you, they are not artistic in the traditional sense or parallel cinema. The line has blurred. And these movies are totally mainstream. These movies add to their acting portfolio too. While some women roles are memorable, many films are based on women.

Right from Seeta Devi (Durgesh Nandini, 1927), Zubeida (Alam Ara, 1931), Leela Chitnis (Bandhan, 1940), Nargis (Mother India, 1957), Madhubala (Mughal-e-Azam, 1960), Meena Kumari (Pakeezah, 1972), Simi Garewal (Karz, 1980), Meenakshi Seshadri (Damini, 1993), Aishwarya Rai (Provoked, 2006), Preity Zinta (Kya Kehna, 2000), Tabu (Chandni Bar, 2001), Karisma Kapoor (Zubaida, 2001), Lisa Ray (Water, 2005), Kajol (Gupt, 1997), Shilpa Shetty (Phir Milenge, 2004), Sushmita Sen (Filhaal, 2002), Mallika Sherawat (Murder, 2004), Vidya Balan (Kahaani, 2012), Rani Mukerji (Black, 2005), Kareena Kapoor (Heroine, 2012), Priyanka Chopra (Mary Kom, 2014), Kalki Koechlin (Margarita With A Straw, 2015), Kangana Ranaut (Queen, 2014), Anushka Sharma (NH10, 2015), Alia Bhatt (Highway, 2014), and Deepika Padukone (Piku, 2015), and the list continues to 2015 and still pouring. It will go on till the cinema is alive, for without women there is no life.

Back to Piku. It is the story of a father-daughter relationship that is surviving with bowel movements and then a road trip! Well, this is the gist of the story.

70-year-old Bhashkor Banerjee (Amitabh Bachchan) resides in Delhi along with his 30-year-old daughter Piku (Deepika Padukone). It is not easy tolerating Bhashkor as he is obsessed with his bowel movement. Piku works to run home. She has her own insecurities and ways to deal with them. Rana Chaudhary (Irfan Khan) is a taxi company owner, who secretly admires Deepika and helps out this Bengali family. As Bhashkor ages, he wishes for a trip to his home place Kolkata. Due to his bowel habits, he cannot think of travelling in plane. So a road trip it should be in Rana's cab with the potty place on top of the cab. Constipation plays a deadly role in cutting short Bhashkor's long life. Relief. Piku unites with Rana or on some such note the movie ends.

The story is simply but the light hearted comedy arising out of Amitabh's constipation propels the movie. Of course, there is a real father - daughter relationship that at times is turbulent. Akshay Oberoi is in a cameo as Dippy's suitor. It was a delight to see Moushumi Chatterjee in the movie. Well, the movie could be called deePIKA (not PITA or PAKA) or PADUkone (stinks!) so a combo resulted in PIKU.

This is a sparkling, heart-warming movie that gladdens the cockles of the heart. At times I sympathized with the father but most of the times I empathized with the daughter. I could understand her dilemma although the constipation part was new. And those associated weird sounds! Yuck! Three odd people come together and make a watchable whole. Not an easy thing in these times of picture perfect movies.

So, next year, same time when Dippy gets her National film Award, don't forget that I already told you so via this review. Dippy is going from strength to strength. With Kat out of the way, this movie will further consolidate her position of being the number 1 heroine. And rightly so. She deserves it. This movie is the proof.