At a time when Bollywood is journeying away from the usual potboilers, a film like Ribbon is more than welcome. It addresses subjects that Bollywood and even parents sometimes shy away from addressing to their children. So even if the film is a little bland and a little uneven per se, Ribbon makes for a better watch than most of the no-brainers today.

Ribbon starts off with one storyline and ends with another, but fails to capture the gamut of both. Rakhee Sandilya has started a conversation on a less-spoken human emotion, very humanely. If only she had taken one route and explored it to its optimum level.

Ribbon is an insightful and mature relationship drama that showcases the trials and tribulations of parenting in the city. In a way it’s a perfect companion piece to Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped in which a young man is pushed to his mental and physical limits as he becomes a forgotten entity in the crowded metropolis.

Ribbon has its share of flaws. So relentless is the focus on the protagonists’ lives that we barely get a glimpse into the lives of the other (interesting but sketchy) characters, like Sahana’s friend or Karan’s father or the babysitter who evidently leads a life as adventurous as her employers, if not more.
But that, some other time.

Ribbon makes one realise several things about the world around us — jobs have become demanding beyond decency, maternity leave is a career killer and an inconvenience at best and trust no one with your minor child. But despite all the ills inflicted upon us, it summarises with the predictable message that if we band together, we’ll get by.