Sharmaji Namkeen

Director: Hitesh Bhatia

Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Juhi Chawla, Suhail Nayyar, Taaruk Raina

Release: Amazon Prime Video

During his career, the late legend Rishi Kapoor have acted in a variety of films. He also signed a movie “Sharmaji Namkeen” by Hitesh Bhatia which he couldn’t complete sadly due to his early demise. The movie is based on family drama and is set in the suburban area of Delhi. Rishi Kapoor was selected for role at first but after his demise, Paresh Rawal was selected as the actor for the character.

The plot starts with Sharmaji’s forceful retirement from a company which he has spend all his life in, this sudden retirement puts sharmaji’s life in a deep sadness and sorrowful life. The only happiness he gets is the happiness of cooking for his two kids. Sharmaji spends his evening having zumba classes in the evenings with the other older citizens.

Besides the story and the script, the biggest challenge of the director is keeping two actors in one character. Indeed it does seem troublesome to connect in the starting but the director makes sure he manages it well. While the joyful scenes are done by Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal have done a fabulous job too. But still the late actor will be missed.

Sharmaji Namkeen contains a number of narratives attributed to characters such as Sharmaji, his son Rinku, Juhi Chawla, and even the cat gang, yet they all come and go. Rinku’s property issue and shame over his father’s cooking labour are what remain and constitute the climax. We are conveniently made to forget Sharmaji’s love for cooking as he rescues his son from the hands of the police thanks to his “connections.”