Review : Unchaai : Senior citizen’s friendship bond!

A song from #RajshriProduction’s #PiyaKaGhar, ‘#YehJeevanHaiThodegumhai, #Thodikhushiyan’ forms the narrative of #SoorajTBarjatya’s latest release #Uunchai. He this time has moved out from the drawing room to the ice capped mountains. He usually deals in families and their inner spaces but this time he has explored friendship bonds between the senior citizens. Uunchai’s every scene oozes philosophy of life and the director has not shunned away from putting it across boldly. Sometimes it becomes like a dialogue from the film ‘Abhi jyada gyan mat do’. Friendship, hope, determination et all form the base of narration with multiple emotions thrown in. Like all Rajshri movie Uunchai too is a multi starrer featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta, Sarika and Parineeti Chopra. Danny Dengzongpa plays a cameo and is the reason for other three senior citizens exploring Himalayas.

Uunchai is a story of four young at heart senior citizens. Amit Srivastava (Amitabh Bachchan), Om Sharma (Anupam Kher), Javed Siddiqui (Boman Irani) and Bhupen (Danny Dengzongpa) assemble to celebrate Bhupen’s birthday at Delhi Club. Bhupen hails from Everest region and eggs other three to join an expedition to EBC (Everest Base Camp). He maintains that Everest offer solutions to all the life-problems. Except Amit others are reluctant. Unfortunately Bhupen dies unexpectedly and the other three decide to fulfil his wish of visiting the Mount Everest, despite personal drawbacks. They undergo basic training and join a group of youngsters at Kathmandu. Shraddha Gupta (Parineeti Chopra) is their guide and after predictable obstacles they start their trek to EBC. In the meanwhile Javed’s wife Shabina (Neena Gupta) tours with them first at Lucknow and then Gorakhpur. They get one more visitor Mala Trivedi (Sarika) who too wants to visit EBC. This simple trek turns out to be a personal, emotional and spiritual journey for everyone as they battle their physical limitations and discover the true meaning of freedom.

The screenplay is stretched a lot which depicts every incident in detail. Though predictable, each main character has a back story to evoke emotional entanglements. But the sincerity of the director is visible where he doesn’t give undue importance to any character, even Mr Big B’s. This simple story is told in a simpler way and a lot of philosophical learnings await the viewers. Major flaw in the screenplay is Amit Not carrying sufficient medicines with him. Also despite being aware of unpredictable weather, no one has protection for rains. Cinematography (Manoj Kumar Khatoi) is excellent and one can feel the chill while sitting in the theatre. Another plus is it’s music. Rajshri has always been known for super music. Amit Trivedi’s music score is laudable. Keti Ko and Ladki Pahadi stand out and compliment the situations.

Uunchai scores heavily in acting department. Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Neena Gupta, Sarika and Danny Dengzongpa are all seasoned actors and they deliver fabulously. Parineeti Chopra too does well in a couple of scenes. Cameos by Nafisa Ali Sodhi and Raju Kher are good. In Danny and Sarika’s back story the makers should have roped in their wards (Akshara Hasan and Rinzing Dengzongpa) which could have added to the entertainment quotient.

Rating : ***1/2