Piku

A road film that goes from Delhi to Calcutta. Piku is an architect. Her father Bhaskor is seventy and gives his whole day to his own digestion; he reports on it every morning, telephones the doctor and keeps everyone in the family informed. Piku looks after him. She goes to work, comes home, and the same argument repeats in the evening. The father is also against her marrying; he argues that a woman should stay independent, and uses that to keep her caring for him. One day Bhaskor wants to go to the old family house in Calcutta. No plane, he says; they will go by car. The man who arranges the trip is Rana, who owns a taxi company. Unable to find a driver, he takes the wheel himself. From there the film is about the days three people spend in a car: the stops, the arguments, the roadside toilets and the conversations at night. At the centre is the question of care: whose duty is an elderly parent, is that duty love or habit, and what becomes of the life of the person doing it. Deepika Padukone plays Piku, Amitabh Bachchan plays Bhaskor and Irrfan Khan plays Rana. Bachchan took India's national award for best actor for the part. Shoojit Sircar directed. A solid choice for anyone who likes family comedy and Indian films built on character. For a viewer expecting songs and spectacle, this one is measured and plain.