The latest offering from the house of Dharma Productions and Karan Johar consolidates two widely known facts about their projects post AGNEEPATH and GUMRAH which came in the early nineties. One that they now make films majorly for the overseas markets and the multiplex viewers with story-plots revolving only around the rich and upper class section of the society. And two that their films necessarily have to be all glossy, colour perfect and beautiful having no place for the harsh realities of a normal life.
WE ARE FAMILY also exactly follows the same pattern, where everything happens so perfectly and nicely within a rich family to such a level that it all becomes completely uninteresting, unmoving and pointless. In short the only merit of the movie in my opinion is that this time thankfully it's an Official adaptation of Chris Columbus's STEPMOM (1998)featuring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon.
But the negatives start right here from its inception, as I really couldn't find the reason to adapt an ORIGINAL which was so English in its concept and also not entertaining enough to get inspired from. May be the makers, as usual only had the Foreign markets and multiplexes in mind to do so.
Anyway, being an honest adaptation, WE ARE FAMILY starts exactly in the same manner as STEPMOM, which in reality becomes utterly confusing for the viewers. Here we have a man still frequently visiting and spending quality time with his three kids and wife even when they have been divorced from the last 3 years
.Quite strange! And on top of this he is hugely interested to introduce all the kids to his loving girlfriend for no reason at all (because the main plot of terminal illness starts after this initial sequence). Now when the kids are happily living with their mom after 3 years of divorce between their parents, then why he is intruding so much in their happy home. At the most he should only visit at regular intervals to meet the kids and that's it. If he is still so much involved with the family then why not accept the mistake and come back to them right away?
Moving ahead with this impact-less start, WE ARE FAMILY goes into the same old mould of Dharma Productions famous flick "KAL HO NA HO" revolving around the ages old formula of terminal illness of the hero. The only difference here is that instead of a love triangle, we have a caring mom in the film, who brings her ex-husband's girlfriend in her own home, as she wishes her to become the mom of their 3 kids after she is gone. Interesting may seem to be on the paper, but on the screen it comes out to be utterly unconvincing, slow and even boring despite of some good performances by the trio of"Pati Patni aur Woh".
Debutant director Siddharth P. Malhotra, makes a typical Dharma Productions film but minus the Hit music and the much needed entertainment factor. The narration keeps on moving at a constantly slow speed and is only able to impress in the last 5 minutes alone when the story shifts to the future mode, where all the 3 kids have grown up to become 3 good looking youngsters. Moreover all the comic scenes in the film, seem to be deliberately added upon to somehow spice up the proceedings and provide few relief moments to the viewers. As a result, the end product is not able to hold your interest throughout its two hours of duration.
Though equipped with two most sought after names in the Industry, Sidhharth fails to extract some energetic stuff from the duo and you simply miss the fire in their scenes together. In simple words, Yes, Kajol and Kareena are there on the screen once again, but they are not able to deliver what was being expected from them by their viewers. Individually Kajol is excellent and Kareena is impressive. But together, the script does not give them anything to excel upon. Kajol's transformation from a healthy lady to a dying patient remains one of the few good things in the movie and the talented lady once again proves that she can easily rise above a not so fine script too.
Kareena displays her acting skills particularly in the second half but her character is not anything different from what she has already done before. Besides, I also couldn't understand why the director tried to portray her as a vamp in the first half. The Original flick never showed Julia Roberts in a bad light in any of its scenes right from the start and that's where the Indianised treatment of the second lady fails completely.
Arjun Rampal as the confused father is fine and the three kids put up an honest show with their sincere performances. But unfortunately, the film has nothing in particular for the kids coming to the theaters with their parents. The other major letdown in the film is its uninspiring music shockingly coming from the multi-talented Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy. The soundtrack is a big disaster with the main song even having few resembling notes with "Tere Hai Zameen Tera Aasman" from THE BURNING TRAIN. Further, the Cinematography had to be eye-catching since the whole film is set in the foreign locations and also has many glossy backdrops related to the fashion world.
So overall, WE ARE FAMILY falls flat in absence of anything exceptional or new to convey to its audience. But you can try it, only if you are interested in its honest performances and cast.
