A story that is slightly confused about what it wants to be. It is not completely a self-actualisation story like Queen, neither it is a family drama like Kapoor and Sons. It stays somewhere in the middle which leaves a lukewarm feeling at the end.

There is an untimely death of a newly married guy Astik sends his whole family into a chaotic spiral. From arranging for the last rites of the dead person to worrying about the future, there are multiple problems for the family. Sandhya, the newlywed wife of Astik, does not yet know how to process the event. In the 13 days of rituals after the death, she learns much more about her husband than what she managed when he was alive.

The movie spends a lot of time on Sandhya. It focuses on how she has pangs of hunger but feels no sadness. She is confused with her own reaction. She even tries to arouse some feelings by blaming her husband’s ex-girlfriend, but there is not a lot of movement to her ark until the last few scenes. The movie also spends time in the family dynamics, without really explaining the undercurrents in detail. I felt that I was thrust into the middle of a book and I needed to find enough semblance to care about the characters. Without the proper build-up, it just becomes hard.

Rafey Mahmood’s camerawork is extremely polished bordering on saturation. The tear visible on Sandhya’s cheek from a shot taken one floor below, or the play of sunlight in the rooms, these details feel heavy-handed. Some of the frames, especially the Ganga river scenes are beautifully shot. The mastery of the craft shows as it comes from Netflix, but that mastery supersedes the authenticity of the content.

The acting performances are good. I still remember the voice modulation of Ashutosh Rana in a couple of scenes. Actors from Bandish Bandits make an appearance here. It is welcoming to see them in feature films. While Raghubir Yadav and Ashutosh Rana handle the matured performance, kudos to Sheeba Chaddha for standing shoulder to shoulder with them. Meghna Malik’s character is unnecessary and her talent is wasted. Which leaves us with Sanya Malhotra. All the praise to her for always being open to diverse roles, but in this movie, her acting does not stay with you. Probably that is the fault of the director Umesh Bist, but her ark just does not lead anywhere substantially. That shows in her acting too.

This is the first album from Arjit Singh as a music composer. Although just after watching the movie I don’t recall a lot of songs, I remember being mildly pleased with the music. I especially liked Phire Faqueera for the obvious tribute to ARR. Others sounded similar to each other but liked Thodese Kam Ajnabee too.

Overall, it is a good watch for the polish in cinematography, but if you want to watch a self-worth enlightenment story I would rather recommend Queen and for a family drama, I would recommend Ramprasad ki Tehrvi (That’s on my watchlist too, but the reviews and trailer suggest it would be worth more than this one).