Reckless hero in baseless story mould

“Because I am 69, should I stop having dreams?” roars Anupam Kher’s character Vijay Matthew. His intense monologue reminds us of one of the most memorable scenes from his debut film, ‘Saaransh’, in which his character, BV Pradhan, confronts the airport authorities over his son’s mortal remains. Kher was only 28 then.

The actor has retained his emotive prowess from his ‘Saaransh’ days. Only his choice of roles has changed. At 69, he plays a man who swears, breaks into fist fights, drinks beer with buddies till he passes out and cares two hoots about his doctor’s advice.

Director Akshay Roy, who has co-written the film with Abbas Tyrewala, presents his hero as someone reckless, and conveniently fits him into a baseless story mould. In the opening scene, Vijay walks on to the edge of a river and positions himself to jump. A neighbourhood woman, whom we later come to know as Parminder, gives a shout-out, but drives past, allowing him to do whatever he intends to do. The same woman cries copiously at the memorial service at the local church till Vijay, who was presumed dead till then, turns up at the service and blasts his friends. A memorial service without a body? Not something unheard of, but in this case, the director seems to be in a hurry to take the story forward!

Anyway, the story is given an inspirational twist and the director uses a coffin as a trope to make his protagonist realise that ‘we all are living our lives on a timer’. The sight of the coffin (which soon becomes a part of his living room) and the idiotic eulogy, which his best friend Fali (Chunky Panday) delivers at the service, sends him into an introspective mode. He realises that his only achievement in life is a bronze medal at a national-level swimming competition. Period.

Vijay decides to change the course of his life and after much Googling and giggling (from his friends), he decides to take part in a triathlon. The aim is to make a record as the oldest participant.

Theoretically, it all sounds fine. But the major hurdle for Roy as a director is to handle the predictability factor that comes with such a story. It’s not that he doesn’t try. He adds twists, spins melodrama and creates challenges for his protagonist, but a few sequences later, he forgets all about them, leaving gaping holes in the narrative.

Kher employs all his skills to keep the story afloat. He is present in every frame. He does a good job, too, especially with his comic touches. Fali, with his outrageous wig and an exaggerated Parsi accent, is the watered-down version of his ‘Aakhiri Pasta’ act from ‘Housefull’. Downright irritating. Others, too, have little to contribute, except for cheering for Vijay or cracking men’s jokes.

Vijay, in the meantime, negates a nagging daughter, scheming competitors, the media, which is out to paint him as the villain, and everything else that comes in his way. We are subjected to agonising spells of moaning and groaning, and a few endearing moments with his Gen Z friend Aditya (Mihir Ahuja) and a vlogger who goes by the name Shock-a Laka Baby, till he reaches the finish line. One-and-half km of swimming, 40 km of cycling and 10 km of running, no less! Much similar to what we had imagined.

With a protagonist, whose name means victory, was there ever a doubt? If at all, there was this tiny bit of curiosity — what came first, the name or the plot?