Movie Review by Jayesh Adhyaru

Dreams Unlimited

In spite of honest performances and the heart in its place, this movie is tiring watch mainly because of its wafer thin and unconvincing plot.

The issue raised in the movie ‘Thai Jashe!’ is very genuine and relatable. Almost everyone would agree with the fact that it has become Herculean task  to buy one’s own home in the city like Ahmedabad, especially in last decade. So, the director Nirav Barot must be congratulated for raising such an important issue which touches every member of the middle class as well as working class. But to build an interesting and gripping building on such a single line story is completely another game.

Sweet dream, bitter experiences

Pranav Joshi (Malhar Thakar), a young, educated man who comes from a small town of Jetpur to the big city of Ahmedabad with dreams in his eyes. He literally has a list of dreams stuck on his wall. Two of his dreams have been fulfilled so far. He has a decent job and a beautiful, understanding fiancé Kajal (Monal Gajjar).

But things are not going well in his hometown Jetpur. His father Chandrakantbhai’s (Manoj Joshi) sari making unit has closed down and he is in a financial mess. Like a dutiful son, Pranav brings his parents to Ahmedabad to live with him. There is one problem now. Name of the problem is his landlady, Shanti aunty (Bhavini Jani). She makes their life hell. One such not so fine day, during a heated argument with Shanti aunty Pranav challenges her that he would buy his own home in just two months. But how? Will he be able to find home of his dreams? Does he have enough money to fulfil his desire?

Logic Vs Emotions

The whole structure of ‘Thai Jashe!’ is stood upon emotions. Though his father is of dominating nature, Pranav has a small family of three tied with love. He gets emotional while leaving his home, parents, old friends in Jetpur. He easily gets irritated with the annoying landlady. He even easily throws a challenge he can’t fulfil easily. He gets frustrated with red tapism of our banks. All his emotions strike a cord with audience. We can feel his pain and his struggle. He asks one good question, which must be answered by our society where the rich keeps buying houses just for investment and keeps the market up. This makes almost impossible to buy a home for those who really need them.

The protagonist’s chemistry with his fiancé, his friends is delightful. The movie has a decent production value and aerial shots of Ahmedabad and Jetpur are eye candy.

But the problem starts when you start seeing through logic glasses. The whole struggle begins with a silly challenge of buying a home in two months with the relatively unknown landlady. The lady who doesn’t give a damn whether our hero can buy it or not. Then why on the earth is he so desperate to buy the home which is clearly out of his reach? Does he want to show his father who constantly underestimates him? But then he has already proven himself by settling down in a big city. All he needs is just some time.

When Pranav realises he falls short of an eligible amount of loan and the actual price of a flat, he starts abusing banks and their officials. He even delivers a long (and impressive) monologue on the uselessness of red tapism of the banking system. But how can banks sanction a loan which you clearly can’t repay? Forgot what happened in sub-prime crises of USA? His fiancé is MBA in finance, doesn’t even she know about it?

There isn’t even a one scene where Manoj Joshi doesn’t scream. We don’t know why he is always grumpy. Why doesn’t he share a good vibe with his son? Doesn’t he have some wise, encouraging words for him? He helps his tenant but doesn’t have any sympathy for his own son? Strange!

One thing we clearly didn’t expect in such family drama movie was homophobia and cuss words. There is one typical ‘gay’ looking character inserted just for cheap laughs and is supported by below the belt comments. These were completely uncalled for.

‘Thai Jashe!’ has wafer thin logicless plot, but it is excruciatingly two and a half hours long. Unnecessary long unwanted scenes, high-pitched melodrama and almost loud comedy by actor Hemang Dave, makes the whole journey tiresome. The film has a couple of lyrical songs but they aren’t catchy enough to remain with us.

One time settlement

‘Thai Jashe!’ is definitely a welcome change in comedy bandwagon of recent Gujarati releases. But it works only in parts and mainly because of its honest performances. Had the movie been edited by 20-30 minutes more with some logical twists, it would have left a powerful impact on viewers’ minds. This is strictly one-time watch.

Rating: ** (Two Stars)

– DeshGujarat