ABCD is used in a very disparaging tone by most of the people who use it. This movie appears to be an attempt to give some insight into why those people could be wrong in taking that tone. Perhaps ABs are CDs. But the movie suggests that it is not something to dismiss and sneer at.
ABCD does not fall into the trap of typical cross-over formulas. It does not try to evoke laughter from audiences at the expense of its subject and characters. It stays serious till the end. Till the end of the movie it remains serious and committed to its subject.
All the three primary characters mother, son and daughter performed incredibly well. Sheetal Seth will definitely get higher marks over others. The pain and confusion of her character even after selecting her partner is captured beautifully in one single shot - when after marriage, her colleague is lavishing praise about how beautiful Sheetal was in her wedding dress, she could not truly take happiness in her comments and instead turns her head sideways not wanting to show her emotions in her face or perhaps her mind was somewhere else - cut the the next shot, Ashok character returning back to India. That simple shot shows that her heart is still between the East that is her past and still part of her, a little bit and West which is apparently her present.
I felt her brother character was more decisive in the end. It is interesting to note that in the end even though they chose life that is more set in the context of their present lives, son who was more Indian at heart and obedient to her mother, takes surprisingly harsh decisions while the daughter, though she always hated everything about Indian, still had that element of longing about India in her.
Its a good movie made with a good intent and that which comes across very good.
Although I wish that the 'snake charmer' in reference to India was dropped. I hope in the times when India is doing well in Technology and trying to transform rapidly, people still looking at India as a country with 'snake charmers' is a bit of insult - not to Indians but the people who look at India that way.
ABCD does not fall into the trap of typical cross-over formulas. It does not try to evoke laughter from audiences at the expense of its subject and characters. It stays serious till the end. Till the end of the movie it remains serious and committed to its subject.
All the three primary characters mother, son and daughter performed incredibly well. Sheetal Seth will definitely get higher marks over others. The pain and confusion of her character even after selecting her partner is captured beautifully in one single shot - when after marriage, her colleague is lavishing praise about how beautiful Sheetal was in her wedding dress, she could not truly take happiness in her comments and instead turns her head sideways not wanting to show her emotions in her face or perhaps her mind was somewhere else - cut the the next shot, Ashok character returning back to India. That simple shot shows that her heart is still between the East that is her past and still part of her, a little bit and West which is apparently her present.
I felt her brother character was more decisive in the end. It is interesting to note that in the end even though they chose life that is more set in the context of their present lives, son who was more Indian at heart and obedient to her mother, takes surprisingly harsh decisions while the daughter, though she always hated everything about Indian, still had that element of longing about India in her.
Its a good movie made with a good intent and that which comes across very good.
Although I wish that the 'snake charmer' in reference to India was dropped. I hope in the times when India is doing well in Technology and trying to transform rapidly, people still looking at India as a country with 'snake charmers' is a bit of insult - not to Indians but the people who look at India that way.