MORNING WALK

A SLOW WALK !

Was waiting very anxiously to watch Morning Walk,since It was bringing my all time favorite Sharmila ,on screen after long.
Though the reviews spoke of it being different,it came and went,almost unsung.I too was a wee bit disappointed

The plot revolves around a retired Professor,played by Anupam Kher,who lived alone,after his wife's death,as he was not very welcome at his daughter-in laws house.He however,after a heart attack,has to move with them,where he tries to adjust with default,and with great support from his loving grand daughter.He is made to pay a price for shifting in,with the son coaxing him to agree to sell his ancestral property to help the son buy a bigger house.

During his Morning walks, he meets Sharmila,who was his old student,and they shared a silent love.Flashback reveals,that after the two are respectively married to different spouses,he meets Sharmila once,at a hill station,during an official tour,and comes to know that she has been the victim of domestic violence,from an in human husband.In trying to console her,he spends some time with her and rest is left to imagination

He now comes to know,that Sharmila's husband died early in life,and she has a daughter ,through their rendezvous,on that fateful night.His surpreesed love for Sharmila and an urge to accept the girl as his daughter,gives him the courage to break the social norms,and declare to both the families about their clandestine affair.While Sharmila's kids take it very sportingly and rather welcomingly,as they wanted to see their mother smile and happy in life,Anupam's son and specially the daughter in law, object very vehemently.

Things become worse,when he decides to use the money from selling his house,not for supporting his legal son to buy a house,but for the education abroad ,of his newly found daughter.The son and bahu,get agitated,as their dream of shifting to a bungalow crumples and is sabotaged by their dads extramarital affair,and the illegitimate daughter.In spite of all scenes created by he drunken bahu and the emotionally blackmailing son,Anupam Kher sticks to his decision,and finally shifts to live with Sharmila,sending off their daughter abroad.

Though a little bold story,it wasn't handled well.The main issue of not only having an affair with a student,and then a daughter through bedlock,but also accepting it publicly in the seventh decade of life,was lost and shifted to the money,for which an amicable solution and mid path attitude could have been used,to equally distribute the money between the two families.The son may have been earning,but as the legal heir,he too had some right on his fathers property and money.The pace was slow,the events unfolded abruptly and the movie lacked spontaneity.The occasional melodrama,added to depriving it from the status of a meaningful cinema.Sharmila was good as always,but Anupam lacked,the metal he displayed in his acting in movies like Saraansh. Other actors were just tolerable .Music and songs were average,and direction and dialogues could be better.

Overall it was a little disappointing,as the movie failed to impress on a very pertinent issue of need of love at old age! But ,no regrets,as it is always a pleasure watching Sharmils,whose few wrinkles,still fail to hide her magical dimples !!

Dr Sanjay Kapoor Lucknow