Auntypreneur, Review: Stock market saves sassy Aunty’s housing society from demolition

There are very few of his kind. Pratik Rajen Kothari is a cool, calm live-wire. I had seen him only in plays so far, so it came as a pleasant surprise that he has directed a Gujarati feature film. His father, Rajen Kothari, was an ace cinematographer, who died young. But Pratik is a real chip of the old block. Shot in Ahmedabad, with local actors, barring his protagonist, Supriya Pathak Kapur, the film is set in Mumbai. A few exterior shots establish this ‘fact’. But in the set of performers he has chosen, he needs little else to make the film convincing and watchable. The film released on the 25^th of April, though Pratik managed to hold a show for invitees only on the 27^th. Auntypreneur, except for the French-inspired title, derived from ‘entrepreneur, is a down-to-earth film, with no frilly décor, loads of good humour, a few insider jokes, and actors who live their roles. It is sub-titled in English, so you can watch it, even if your knowledge of Gujarati tends to zero.

Jasuben (Jasu sister) Gangani is a 65-year-old widow, whose only child, a grown-up son, has settled in the USA, with his wife. She lives alone in Mumbai, and rents out a room to a young paying guest, who is a share-market broker. Her son repeatedly requests her, via video calls, to join him in the States, but she is content living here. She is friends with half-a-dozen other women in the co-operative housing Society that they reside in. They are different and individualistic in nature, as is the case with any set of persons inhabiting a building, with their own quirks and peeves. The Society, named Poonam, has a Chairman, who has held the post since the Society was formed, some 30 years ago. He belongs to the ‘laissez faire’ type of personality, and is, largely, useless. One night, Jasu dreams that their Society is being demolished, and wakes up, trembling at the prospect.

Sadly, for the Society, the dream almost comes true. A notice is served to the Society that it owes the Municipality Rs. 1.96 crore in property tax arrears, and unless these dues are cleared, it will demolish the Society. To be fair, it is not the residents who should be paying this amount, but the builder. The builder, in this case, is absconding, having migrated to the Middle East. However, the Municipality will not relent. Arrears are arrears, and must be cleared by the residents, if it comes to that. Jasu and her Society-mates pool in their resources, but the amount so collected is a fraction of the required figure. Just then, it strikes sassy Jasu that her tenant might be holding the key to this gargantuan problem. Why not try to make a kill at the stock market, under his guidance? No other form of investment can possibly give the kind of returns the ‘Auntypreneur’ gang needs, except, if luck is on their side, the share bazaar!

Writing credits go to Shreya Singh for story and screenplay, and Abhinav Vaidya for dialogue. Where it so demands, the characters speak in Hindi, English and Marathi. The female touch is obvious in the way the parts are nuanced. Occasionally, the script reminds you of an all-time hit, marathon running TV serial, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, though that may be attributed to the setting of the story in a co-operative housing Society, and the lead players, in both, being Gujarati-speaking. The comparison, I am afraid, will be inevitable, though the film can hold its own.

Director Pratik Rajen Kothari keeps it simple. No fancy camera angles, no split images, no slo-mo, no VFX…in fact, no action, no thrills…, in fact, no nothing. Content is king here, and narrative is cohesive. The only indulgences are the references to Dev Anand and Kartik Aryan, with built-in insider jokes. These can be overlooked, in the context of the slice-of-life characters, and their largely credible conversational dialogues. Perhaps he could have made the methodology of going about picking the Bet 5 and stock exchange winners more credible, because, as it stands, you need to swallow it with a pinch of salt. He has put all due faith in his actors, which might be the result of holding workshops, a common thing in drama, and a feature that is getting to be common in cinema too. This is a promising, if not outstanding, debut for the young man.

Supriya Pathak Kapur, daughter of accomplished theatre and film actress Dina Pathak, and wife of another accomplished stage and screen star, Pankaj Kapur, is Gujarati-speaking, by birth, and slides into her Jasuben persona effortlessly. But there is no attempt to overshadow the supporting cast, who all acquit themselves very well. Parikshit Tamaliya as Raju (the tenant, stock-broker), Brinda Trivedi as Sheetal, Vaibhavi Bhatt as Suvarna, Kaushambi Bhatt as Panna, Margi Desai as Manda, Yukti Randeria as Krupa, Heena Jaikishan as Neha…are the ladies in this ‘Ladies Special’ outing. Archan Trivedi as Chaman Kaka, the Chairman, and Ankit Challa as Gangele contribute their mite as well. Behind the lens, doing what Pratik’s father did so well, is Vaishakh Manoharan, and he delivers. Music by Mihir Makwana is suitable, though not memorable. Editor Harsh Anandani lets the story unfold at an unhurried pace, just like the lives of the characters, except when they face a deadline, and move into top gear.

Auntypreneur as a title is a play on a word that only educated Indians will relate to, so, perhaps, the makers could have come-up with a more organic, more easily relatable title. But this film will benefit a lot from word-of-mouth publicity. It is ideal for a family trip to the nearest cinema hall, to watch a clean, straight, honest film, and will help Gujarati cinema flower even more.

Rating: ***

Trailer: https://youtu.be/3LTPEypk65c