Looking for Love with Yash Chopra

The Romantics | Cast: Aditya Chopra, Anil Kapoor Director: Smriti Mundhra | Hindi/English documentary | Netflix

Beautiful young women driving big cars. Handsome, youngish men playing the piano and singing lovelorn songs. Big houses, bigger emotions. In 1965, when Yash Chopra directed Waqt, he set the stage for the ultimate Indian love story, one which set the template for the intergenerational drama and the lost and found genre. It was not his first film, but in Sadhana’s chiffons and in Sharmila Tagore’s ada (style), Indian women found a new way of being. It was only one of the many ways in which the late Yash Chopra could be called a romantic. He was a romantic in the way he did business with his stars, in the way he envisaged his women, in the way he co-crafted the poetry and the music, and in the manner he created a softer, more vulnerable man, Amit Malhotra, in Kabhi Kabhie in 1976, who then found a younger, less poetic, but equally sensitive echo in Raj Malhotra. Unfortunately for Smriti Mundhra’s The Romantics (Netflix), the journey seems to begin with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1995, and with Yash Chopra’s son, Aditya Chopra. He is the beating heart of this four-part series. His big interview, his view of his father, his view of the film business, and his legacy. It is an in-depth interview and shows the man behind the legend, sensitive, resilient, hopeful and fearless. But the YRF legacy is one that everyone shares and can lay a claim to, however small, through his beloved father. Accessible, affectionate, always welcoming, we don’t see enough of Yash Chopra in The Romantics. There is some footage from interviews by co-stars and friends, but there was no greater romantic than Yash Chopra, and looking for him is like looking for love in a series that seems to be more about the business of show business and about showcasing the next generation of Yash Raj Films talent.

Why watch it ? For a big starburst of nostalgia

Beyond Happily Everafter
Potluck 2| Cast: Cyrus Sahukar, Ira Dubey Showrunners: Pavneet Gakhal, Gaurav Lulla | Hindi/English | SonyLIV

Emperor penguins in the Savannah? Not exactly but the writers of Potluck have worked very hard on each line to suggest different species for various members of the Shastri clan. This is the kind of sitcom that was very popular on television at one point and elicited genteel laughter from the audience. This was before the days of Comedy Circus and the laugh out loud, politically incorrect, raucous comedy of the Kapil Sharma variety. There is a parental unit, three adult kids and their bablog who come together every weekend for a potluck. The family that eats together stays together in this upmarket version of Hum Saath Saath Hain. All urban problems are duly covered—new mother going back to work, corporate husband losing his job, single woman looking for love, interfaith unions, and youthful parents looking for more than retirement benefits. The acting is efficient and TV vets such as Cyrus Sahukar and Kitu Gidwani (who plays his mother, Pramila) are particularly good.

Why watch it? For the easy camaraderie of the Shastri clan on screen

In Case You Missed It

Thunivu| Cast: Ajith Kumar, Manju Warrier Director: H Vinoth | Tamil | Netflix

Ajith Kumar has come a long way from the confused film director of Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000). Here he is a vigilante stealing from the corrupt and helping the poor. Aiding him ably in a new look is Manju Warrier. He is clearly having fun in the movie and it translates to the audience.

Why watch it? Purely for the things left undefined in the movie, for instance the relationship between Kumar and Warrier. This is unpretentious fun

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