We Are Family: Kajol shines in this average film

Rating: 2.5 out of 5*

Starring: Arjun Rampal, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Aanchal Munjal, Nominath, Diya Sonecha and Iravati Harshe

Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra

September 3, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Siddharth P. Malhotra’s We Are Family (WAF) as we all know by now is an official remake of Chris Columbus’s Stepmom (1998) with the roles of Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts and Ed Harris being played by Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal respectively. While the fans of the original might not really like it, those who haven’t seen Stepmom might find it a passable fare.

Aman (Arjun Rampal) is a photographer having a live in relationship with Shreya (Kareena), a designer. His divorced wife Maya (Kajol) takes care of their three kids. When Aman decides to get married to Shreya, he realizes she needs to get familiar to his kids as well. But their first meeting begins on a bad note. The kids hate her and so does Maya. After Maya is diagnosed with cancer, Aman comes back to stay with her. But soon they realize her cancer is in a fatal stage and is going to lead to Maya’s death. Worried about her kids’ future without a mother, she decides to meet Shreya. Maya convinces Shreya to come home and stay with them so that she can train her to be the perfect stepmom for her kids after she is gone. What it all leads to forms the rest of the film.

The subject of a mother bringing in her would be “souten’ and helping her in becoming the perfect mother for her kids is a novel subject for Bollywood. But then again, Siddharth P. Malhotra has managed to make a decent family entertainer that’s replete with some good emotional moments and humour. The writing and direction is just perfect in the first half but after Kareena comes and joins the “family’ the situations become repetitive and the pace drops. Some unwanted sequences lead to boredom. But the pre climax sequence between Kajol and each member of her family redeems back the film to a large extent, kudos to the writer and Malhotra for that. But then again the marriage sequence post it brings the graph of the film down. A few scenes could have been less cheesy and predictable one hopes. The scenes between Kajol and her children and the confrontation sequences between Kajol and Kareena have turned out very well. The dialogues by Niranjan Iyengar are inconsistent though.

Kajol delivers an award winning performance. Kareena manages to hold her own despite the powerhouse of talent like Kajol in front of her. Arjun Rampal is passable and doesn’t have much to do. He is absent in most parts of the film, especially in the 2 nd half. All the three kids – Diya Sonecha, Nominath and Aanchal Munjal have done a wonderful job. Iravati Harshe as Kajol’s daughter gets limited scope.

Shankar Ehsaan and Loy disappoint with their tunes this time. The Jailhouse Rock number rocks more for its picturisation though than their efforts in recreating it.

We Are Family could have been a better film had it not been for its inconsistent writing and being to predictably similar to it’s Hollywood original. Do give it a try if you haven’t seen Stepmom

– Sampurn Wire