The Mehta Boys will make you want to call your father

Boman fights in the rain, but this time, without a football

I am writing this after coming back from watching the Mumbai premier of Boman Irani’s directorial debut, “The Mehta Boys”.

The Mehta Boys is a film that understands that in a fight between family members, words are weapons. The bulk of the story is set over a weekend when an estranged father-son duo are forced to spend time together. Very simple set-up and a very simple story. Done with grace, and a fairly deft hand.

I watched the film for free with 1,100 other people at the iconic Regal Cinema in Mumbai as part of the Kala Ghoda Arts festival.

I got down from my taxi at the circle at 7:58, ran across, entered the theatre, weaving past the Prime Video team - who are releasing the film directly on their platform worldwide - and grabbed an empty seat just as the movie was starting. I was sitting in the last row, in the second seat from the aisle. A few minutes into the film, a tall gentleman walks in and stands near the door. Every few minutes he will shush someone, or scold someone for using their phones. The voice seemed awfully familiar.

Boman Irani plays an old Gujarati man. A recently widowed man who lives in Navsari. He is haggard and pot bellied, he has slumped shoulders and messy thinning hair. He sprinkles in Gujarati-isms into his dialogues. He says “nehver” instead of never, shakes his head, and ahms and ahs just like a man who has replaced many calendars. The man standing besides me is the opposite of this. He stands straight, in a smart Nehru jacket type of situation, and has a commanding yet appropriately quite and clear voice in which he shushes people. I thought he was one of the staff. A few scenes and several shushes later, I realize, the man is Boman Irani himself. He is watching his own film. Amazing.

Anyways. The film is quite good. They have captured some very real moments - things that your father has done. Switching off the lights behind you - even if you have stepped out of the room for literally one second. Adhi minute pan nathi pappa. What the hell! Or the, “now you will teach me how to do things?”. It’s all cute and relatable, and a few tears were wiped. And Boman Irani is obviously extremely watchable. The rest of the cast is also serviceable. There is a strange, almost Namastey London type of monologue towards the end of the film. And how they tie the son’s work life into all this is a little hokey.

But ultimately, Boman is more than enough to keep you entertained for two hours, and leave with a smile on your face and an intense desire to call your dad.

Also very funny thing, I forgot to mention. After the film, the principal cast, the marketing head at Prime Video and the moderator, Rohini came up on stage for a small talk. Boman talked about how he loved seeing the film with an audience and how he wished the film had gotten a theatrical release. Which put the marketing lady in an awkward spot, but Rohini deftly handled that situation by talking about “global audience, wider distribution” etc etc. Very well done. But the audience had a good chuckle at the faux pas.

(Say hi in the comments if you spotted the Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal reference in the sub-head)

If you are still reading this and are in Mumbai tomorrow (Saturday 1st Feb), go to the Regal at 7.30 to catch the 50th anniversary screening of Deewar. In 70mm.

Bye.