I Want to Talk Movie Review

Abhishek Bachchan plays Arjun Sen, a Bengali NRI living the American dream. He is a marketing professional whose career and life were affected when he was diagnosed with cancer in the prime of his life. At the same time, he was going through a divorce. The same parenting of her daughter Reya is hurting her. He is given only 100 days to live, but he survives despite everything. He undergoes approximately 20 surgeries, and at the end of each one he is shown completing a marathon, huffing and puffing, living life to the fullest and on his own terms.

The film is based on the life of a real man, a cancer survivor who was a close friend of director Shoojit Sircar. The story highlights Arjun’s complex relationship with his daughter Reya, who is portrayed in different scenes by young actress Pearle Dey and later influencer Ahilya Bamroo.

The movie is a slow moving movie. It does not portray Arjun Sen as a hero in any dramatic way. For example, like Anand from Anand (1971), who never lets the disease defeat him, Arjun is a street-smart guy who knows which buttons to push to get what he wants. A motormouth who loves to talk. And that, he believes, is what marketing is all about; you confuse your audience until they are forced to accept your argument. He has the ability to laugh at himself. His doctor Jayanta Deb (Jayant Kriplani) feels guided by his patient to perform surgery. It’s a kind of role reversal. We often hear that doctors force patients to undergo surgery. A long-lasting bond is established between the two; The doctor even gives the keys to his house to his favorite patient. They become golf buddies and even socialize together. Jayant Kriplani has always been a reliable actor and suits a role that requires dry humour.

Arjun is shown to have a romantic relationship with one of his nurses, Nancy (Kristin Goddard), but nothing is explicitly shown. He once saves her life by performing CPR but also breaks two ribs in the process; This is the kind of bittersweet humor the film offers. Although he may or may not be facetious, pay attention. The humor used by Shoojit Sircar is very subtle. Despite the presence of Johny Lever, who gives perhaps the most restrained performance of his life, there are no excessively funny moments. These are all situational and designed to make you smile rather than laugh. Another scene involves Arjun’s elder brother being wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair when the explanation of the complex medical procedure reaches him. A slice of life movie. And while life as we know it can be boring and monotonous one moment, it can leave us bogged down the next. More than anything, the film celebrates the unpredictability of life.

It is a pleasure to watch child actress Pearle Dey as a precocious child. She is such a natural in front of the camera and so is Ahilya Bamroo, who plays the typical rebellious teenager with her heart in the right place. The scenes of her confrontation with Abhishek, especially the scenes in which she explains the anxiety of being the child of a broken family, form the soul of the film. The closure he finally finds is kind of comforting. Abhishek Bachchan devoted himself completely to the role. The scenes in which he goes bald after his first surgery, his eyes look dead, and he seemingly cannot accept his reality speak to the actor in him. Later, when he decides to fight, his eyes shine with determination. The actor tried his best to portray the character, not caring about looking like a star like a typical movie hero. He embraces both his dad bod and his dad jokes with a vengeance. The actor has completely surrendered himself to the character and we have not seen this side of Abhishek for a long time.

Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography is remarkable and some scenes, especially the lake parts, are quite picturesque. The make-up and prosthetics are also top notch. Is it a perfect movie? Not really. We don’t see Arjun’s estranged wife even once. The man has had 20 surgeries and it is hard to understand why he chose to stay away throughout this journey. The director does not explain why this is so. Arjun lost his job but he seems to be doing pretty well. Given the fact that healthcare is quite expensive in America, where does the money for all these surgeries come from? Of course, there are holes in the story and we feel that Shoojit Sircar, instead of tying up all the loose ends, has consciously dispersed them and allowed us to form our own assumptions. The film is more of a passion project than a commercial vehicle. It tells a humorous story about the resilience of a person who follows his own path without conforming to the strict norms of cinema. Watch it for the acting talent on display and the message it conveys in its own tortuous ways.