Australia's Best Movie Magazine

Film reviews

Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

search the site

Enter search term:

newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter

Enter search term:

We Are Family (Film)

by Mamta Bhatt | September 07, 2010 13:59 | Edited September 07, 2010 14:01

Strengthened by nuanced performances, this film explores its subject matter with just the right amount of sentimentality.

Twelve years after the original Julia Roberts/Susan Sarandon starrer, Stepmom, comes the Indian tear-jerking adaptation, We Are Family. Set in Sydney, the story follows a broken family brought together by a mother's terminal illness.

 

Maya (Kajol) is a divorced mother, who dedicates her life to her children. Aman (Arjun Rampal) is the absent father who juggles his career and new girlfriend with his children's needs. Shreya (Kareena Kapoor) is the other woman, career-driven and at odds with Maya and the kids, shut out of their lives. When Maya is diagnosed with cancer, however, she puts her differences aside and invites Shreya into her home - moulding Shreya as a replacement mother for when she passes away.

 

Stepmom is a natural to be adapted to Indian cinema and first time director and writer, Siddharth Malhotra, handles the task with aplomb. The story deftly teases out the intricacies of the different relationships - mother/child, father/child, lovers, ex-lovers, stepmother/child, and stepmother/mother - and the characterisations are nuanced, with the viewer empathising with all the protagonists. The narrative is bolstered with powerful performances from Kajol and Kapoor, who are sincere and sensitivite and complement each other flawlessly. Rampal, though in a smaller role, also makes a fierce impact in every scene - as do the charming children.

 

Conversely, though, some of the scenes are contrived, explanations and resolutions too convenient and the songs, though beautifully shot, sung and written, misplaced in the context of the film. But overall, it's a simple tale, brilliantly told and acted, with the right amounts of joy and sap that is Indian filmmaking at its core.