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An Endearing Family Drama With Loose Structural Engineering


RATING – ⭐⭐✨ 2.5/5*

The Mehta Boys Review Movie Talkies:

The Mehta Boys marks the directorial debut of actor Boman Irani, and I am glad to say that it is a decent attempt, though not entirely successful. The film manages to point a finger at modern family issues that have been explored by many films over the years, including many in recent times. What a simple idea can do, it does, but it fails to spread its wings in this typically formulaic genre. Taking a father-son’s strained relationship to intricate architectural segments is a rather poor decision by whoever has written it. You can’t end your film by giving more attention and importance to the architecture and its structural engineering problems than to the relationship issues between the father and son. So, it doesn’t matter how endearing and emotional the film wants to be, as the professional life issues just don’t fit well with it.

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The Mehta Boys Movie Story:

The film begins with the introduction of the hero, an underconfident architect, Amay (Avinash Tiwary), who is struggling with the ambitious project of his company. He is afraid of himself (I don’t see how he passed the campus recruitment interviews), and he doesn’t have enough confidence to promote his own talent. He is shattered by the news of his mother’s death, as she was the only parent he loved, which means that his relationship with his father is strained and disturbed. After the mother’s death, the father, Shiv Mehta (Boman Irani), has to move to America with his daughter, but due to some technical issues with the ticket bookings, he has to stay with Amay for a couple of days. Before going to America, Shiv requests Amay to arrange a meeting with his girlfriend (Shreya Chaudhry), and during this time, many things change between them.

The Mehta Boys

The Mehta Boys Cast:

Boman Irani and Alexander Dinelaris’s script is simple and lovable, but it lacks the ‘X’ factor. It struggles to find that one “turning point” or “USP factor,” which is needed to elevate the dramatic quotient in any family drama. Thankfully, it’s not boring and isn’t terrible either; it’s just a matter of ignoring small nuances. The father having hallucinations, an overly disturbing personality, and extreme pride do not align well with the character’s arc. Amay, despite his talent, is just sitting in the office doing nothing, yet he is still employed. What kind of employment is that? I am an engineer myself (in a different field, of course), but I have a few friends working in civil engineering and architecture, and believe me, the kind of pressure they face and the amount of spontaneity the company demands is tremendous. Amay was far from that, despite being a quiet participant in many office meetings. The boss would just look at him, say a couple of words (not insults), and leave him be. Trust me, it doesn’t happen like that even in a normal corporate office. The Mehta Boys focuses too much on this architect’s business rather than the bond between him and his father. I believe the direction this movie took was wrong, if nothing else.

The Mehta Boys

Abinash Tiwary delivers a good performance, even though the character arc is somewhat lacking. The complexity is over the top, yet in some scenes, his facial expressions do the trick. Shreya Chaudhry was chosen to portray a beautiful corporate girl, I believe, and that’s exactly what she did. She looked like that quintessential corporate era girl, and her deliberate attempt to wear a saree also worked well visually. Boman Irani has performed well, which is to be expected from an actor with so much experience in his kit. In that two-minute airport scene, Puja Sarup stood out as the best performer in the entire film. I just wish she had more scenes and more screen time.

The Mehta Boys

Since it’s an OTT release, I wouldn’t expect hit music, but I would definitely anticipate a decent background score. We don’t get that. The cinematography also isn’t very good, following a simple, basic framework. The Mehta Boys is just a little under two hours, which is pretty sufficient. The editor couldn’t do much more than this, but yes, a few paused scenes and slow-motion pans could have been avoided. There isn’t much in art design or production design since it’s mostly set in a rented house and an office meeting room. The hotel scene was a much-needed break. Irani’s directorial debut seems to have lost its essence in storytelling. The grip is missing, and most importantly, the subjective vision is completely absent. Most of the blame lies with the writing, followed by the direction. It’s all about not realizing your own potential. The Mehta Boys is rough and cold in parts when it could have been more emotional and absorbing.


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