Making a movie on a subject with incestuous connotations, even though slight, is always a tricky job. One might end up putting the audiences off. But, expectedly, Onir displays sensitivity in walking the thin line and telling his story as a tale of relationships between different characters rather than a plain tale of forbidden love.
That's what makes 'Sorry Bhai' worth a watch. It's about the complexities of relationships. Not the kind of complexities one sees splashed out dramatically in usual Bollywood melodramas. But the kind that one normally sees in life. That subtle tug or snap in relationships when people are drawn towards or pulled away from each other. That gradual mushrooming of an emotion towards another person. These very moments captured with a telling effect provide the soul to 'Sorry Bhai' even though the film gets a little too tangled in the second half.
At the centre of the movie is a slowly developing love story between a woman and the younger brother of the man she is about to marry.
Harsh ( Sanjay Suri ) is set to marry Aaliya ( Chitrangada Singh ). His family comprising of a young, shy and geeky scientist brother Siddharth ( Sharman Joshi ), a disapproving mom ( Shabana Azmi ) and a chilled-out dad ( Boman Irani ) come to Mauritius to attend the wedding. While Harsh doesn't seem to have much time for his family and his bride-to-be, Siddharth and Aaliya develop a bond that mushrooms into mutual attraction. The duo fights this attraction. But before they both could stop, they are already in love.
How will the elder brother react to this love? How will mom and dad take it? That's for you to see.
More than just a romantic story, 'Sorry Bhai' taps on the bonding between two brothers, and between the two women in the story. Shabana's character is disapproving of Chitrangada's in the beginning. But gradually the two women begin to bond. Similarly the few intense moments between the two brothers beautifully capture the essence of fraternal love. But on top of it all is the gentle love story between Sharman and Chitrangada.
In a movie like 'Sorry Bhai', it's more appropriate to judge the actors' job from viewpoint of the chemistry between them rather than individual performances. Sharman - as a Jazz-loving scientist working on a project to make a dummy dog fly (not bark) - is first rate, particularly when cast opposite Chitrangada who exudes a natural charm and ease of a woman slightly mature for Sharman. The chemistry between Shabana and Chitrangada too is worth noting. Sanjay Suri is relegated to the background for a substantial part, but he too gets his moments. Boman Irani is superb in a relatively smaller but homour-filled role.
Onir's films have always tackled the inner conflicts of the story's characters, and 'Sorry Bhai' is no different. The film, with its above average music and eye-pleasing cinematography, has a somewhat abrupt ending preceded by a couple of sequences where you feel the director either lost his grip over the plot or became too self-indulgent.
But at the end of the day, 'Sorry Bhai' gives you a faint smile and doesn't make you feel sorry for the money and time spent on the flick.
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Sorry Bhai - Movie Review
