Mummy dear
Randeep Wadehra

Unusual entertainers have become a norm. On the one hand there are sports-oriented flicks like Chak De India sweeping the box office stakes and on the other you have Bheja Fry giving the funny bone a much-needed tickle and more. Strengthening the trend is Pammi Somal’s family entertainer Mummyji — a typical multiplex movie. It is unusual because it portrays clash of values in a manner that leaves one both amused and bemused.

Moreover, although the movie’s milieu is typical Punjabi the language is English — a version of crossover cinema that should appeal to desis, NRIs and firangs alike, a la Monsoon Wedding.

Shot in Chandigarh, the flick has the versatile Kirron Kher in the title role, who is remarkable for her comic contradictions. She runs her house on traditional lines even while making allowances for trends-in-vogue.

Like a typical Indian parent, she tries to use marriage for shackling her sons so that they may not go astray; but encourages her daughter to stand on her own feet before tying the knot. She is at home both as a kitchen-oriented housewife and glamorous society woman.

Mummyji’s character is a mix of contrasts. She dominates her husband Rajinder (played by Kanwaljit) and yet allows him to have bank accounts exclusively in his own name, extols traditional values but adapts to the demands of modernity, is tough and domineering but can be soft and sentimental too. All these opposites give rise to comic situations laced with emotions that should keep the audience enthralled.

Then there is Kanwaljit as a laidback husband who gives the impression of being henpecked but is artful enough to keep control of the purse-strings even as he yields space and ‘power’ to his wife in domestic affairs.

The comic-romantic angle of the story is brought alive by mummyji’s neighbour, a Sikh played by Jackie Shroff. He refuses to get married because according to him no other woman could be as good as mummyji. Divya Dutta is another seasoned actress who enchants in the role of Muniya.

If the movie’s plot is attractive, its star cast, including seven newcomers, is equally so. Apart from the above-mentioned heavyweights, there is Gurdas Maan upping the glamour quotient with a cameo. Others are Anju Mahendru, Viraf Patel (Mr. India 2005), Sachin Sharma, Simran Vaid, Nimisha Goswami, Urwashi Gandhi, Michael Joseph and Freddy Darruwala.

Sameer’s lyrics are set in music by Aadesh Srivastava and sung by Gurdas Maan, Sonu Nigam, Hariharan, Richa Sharma and Shaan — presenting the audience a bouquet of rap, disco, bhangra, ghazal and romance. A promising debut by Pammi Somal.

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