Title: I Want To Talk

Director: Shoojit Sircar

Cast: Abhishek A Bachchan, Ahilya Bamroo, Johnny Lever, Jayant Kripalani, Pearle Dey Kristin Goddard

Where: In theatres near you

Rating: 3.5 Stars

So, how do you play a pause? How do you let the magic unfold with pure silence? Well, you take a masterful director, the stature of Shoojit Sircar, and a seasoned performer, the calibre of Abhishek Bachchan, to tell a tale which is as tender as it is heart-wrenching. 'I Want To Talk' is that delightful mix where both performances and silence are intertwined to make a sharp and a distinguished commentary on the ephemeral and the eternal nature of life as we know it.

Mind you, Sircar has used those meandering, meaningful pauses in his previous endeavours such as October and Piku, but in this film, he offers more gravitas as he refuses to overlay those tender moments with soulful melodies. Pauses here are employed to ponder, as opposed to using them to highlight, if not exactly heighten, the key subtexts the narrative is replete with. Bachchan Junior's performance therefore becomes remarkably poignant as well as sophisticated for those with the discerning palette.

Watch Abhishek staring into nothingness, witness him see the season change and the landscapes shift, watch him embrace the moment he is placed in, characterising the ephemeral nature of it. The sheer visual delight of it all, coupled with the proverbs 'thehraav', will leave you with a lump in your throat. It is too much to process let alone probe into, and yet the film's warmth makes you smile.

Abhishek plays a marketing genius, someone who can negotiate anything, and win almost everything. Manipulation is the operative word here. Such is his marketing brilliance that he can even sell the word manipulation under the garb of finely decorated persuasions. When life throws a curveball at him--the one of the Shakespearean proprion both in terms of the degree and the curvature, he decides to handle the situation and the sensitive timeline he is ultimately reduced to (less than four months). But then again, as they say, one is never prepared for the ultimate goodbye, even when they think they are ready. Sircar's narrative offers that precarious readiness bordering uncertainties that loom large!

The makers here are not exactly paraphrasing, but most certainly are reconstructing motifs to signify the message--is this how I ease the burden of my being? Perhaps by forgiving some and by seeking forgiveness from some! How does one strike that perfect balance? The emotional landscape here is far more challenging to navigate for a film that may appear on the surface as a slice of life, but exposes the deeper contexts and complexities.

Watch the banter between a father and a daughter, staged to leave you moist eyed as much as it attempts to crack you up. See how the doctor is using some simple words (oh, the pauses again) and some choicest superlatives to ease the tremendous tension of the tragedy. The two individuals are precariously placed in a situation, and Sircar captures those tiniest of dots that ultimately form the common link.

For those who admired Abhishek in films such as Yuva, Guru and Dasvi to mention a few, would rate this performance as one of his finest. The sheer maturity, the much-needed manoeuvring, and the believability he brings to the table, makes him adorable to watch. His altered physicality only makes him more life-like, and the vulnerability in his eyes, make you want to listen to him even when only his silence is doing all the talking!