Parivarik ManuRanjan Movie Review:
Saturation. Feeling bloated during the Deepavali season is a given, considering how much food we gobble up in the name of festivities. It is an excuse to gorge on sugar, spice, and everything nice. The entire exercise is fun while we’re at it, and yet a saturation sets in. If you listen to that voice that says, ‘I think it is enough…’, things would be good, but how often do we listen to that voice of reason? The same thing happens in director Varun V Sharma’s Parivarik ManuRanjan, which is streaming on Sony LIV. What is pegged as a simple, pleasant love story ends up as a cloying attempt that gets a lot right, but a few non-negotiable things wrong.
Director: Varun V Sharma
Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Aditi Rao Hydari, Brijendra Kala, Sunita Rajwar, Mukesh Tiwari
Streamer: Sony LIV
The film is about Ranjan Dubey, a 40-year-old guy left with no one to call his own after he finishes his familial duty of getting all his sisters happily married. Sitting alone in his palatial Lucknow home, Ranjan needs a companion. His sisters try to set him up, and so does his neighbour and colleague (Brijendra Kala). This entire setup is built on the classic but unfortunate trope of labelling prospective suitors as ‘damaged’ just because they are either single mothers or divorcees or someone on the verge of separation. Of course, this is dealt with not-so-surprising lightness, but it sets the tone for the kind of film Parivarik Manuranjan is going to be. So, when Brijendra’s character tells Dubey that social media is the best place to find someone to take care of him and his home, you’d think it's an open call to prospective suitors. But it's for a housekeeper, and enter… Helen (Aditi Rao Hydari), a mysterious but mystical woman, whom the entire mohalla believes to be too good to be a housekeeper, and too beautiful for them not to think they have a chance with her.
Ranjan is a 40-year-old figuring out his place in the marriage market, but he doesn’t get any limiting label, except the one that exalts him. He is a ‘quintessential gentleman’ because he is a decent guy who understands consent. The bare minimum becomes the gold standard because that is the kind of man inhabiting this world. Every man except the genial Ranjan is lecherous or snoopy, and every woman except the ethereal Helen is nosy or disruptive. For a film that revels in being a middle-of-the-road cinema, toying with extremes feels out of place. We are left waiting for the talented ensemble to leave and give Ranjan and Helen the quiet they need. But in trying to infuse comedy into almost every scene, the makers don’t let the relationship between the protagonists go beyond surface level. There is also a huge issue with this equation because it is neither one of equals nor does it feel organic. Why does Ranjan like Helen? Because she is wonderful at domestic work. We don’t know what she does apart from cooking for him, ironing his clothes, picking his office outfit, cleaning the house, and redecorating the rooms. And why should Helen reciprocate? Because he made her feel safe, even though they lived under the same roof. Bare minimum, again.
But through this seemingly disturbing conceit, what keeps the film warm and sweet is the terrific performances by Pankaj and Aditi. They turn up the old-world charm to ensure we never feel that their characters are increasingly one-note. Their effervescent yet unassuming demeanour keeps us invested in what happens. In fact, it makes you wonder whether things would have been any different if Helen had another reason for entering Ranjan’s life. There are a couple of monologues where Ranjan reasons with his family that the blossoming of his romance with Helen makes absolute sense to him, despite them being on different rungs of the social ladder. But it is also peppered with reasoning that belies the entire argument. Would Ranjan have liked Helen if she wasn’t this woman with a secret? Would he have still liked her if she wasn’t this perfect a housekeeper? Would he still have stood up for her in front of his family if he hadn’t developed feelings?
Again, all these questions pop up, for sure, but there is something winsome about Pankaj playing this sweet middle-aged man without a bad bone in his body. There is something diaphanous about the way Aditi waltzes through the role of Helen with her wide-eyed charm. There is something magical about seeing two people fall in love over respectful conversations and meaningful gestures. Parivarik ManuRanjan never tries to be anything more than a simple story about romance between a man who loves the idea of being loved and a woman who loves the idea of love. But sometimes, beneath the flowery poetry of wholesome relationships lie uncomfortable questions that need to be asked before saturation sets in and lives are built without a proper foundation.
