'Dil Dhadakne Do' to 'Piku': In Bollywood, it is all about loving your dysfunctional, selfish family

There was a time when Bollywood used to teach us how to love our parents. Rajshri Productions’ most films were honey dipped in moral values, sanskars and culture. They depicted how ideal families should be. With uncles, aunts, cousins-all living under one roof and celebrating togetherness. But that rosy picture seem to have gone through drastic change in recent times in B-town.

Recent films-‘Piku’,‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ and ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’- seem to celebrate the dysfunctional family where every member has a quirk of his own. These films talk about the selfish father, the depressed wife, the rebellious daughter, the loser son who may not serve you as your ideal characters yet manage to create an impression in viewer’s mind.

In Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Piku’, Amitabh Bachchan plays a hypochondriac father who does not want his daughter to get married for his own selfish reasons. While he harps to the world how his daughter is financially and sexually independent and doesn’t need a man to complete her life, deep down there is a bit resentment at the mere thought of letting a new member into his little world- where he is solely depended on his daughter for everything.

In Anand L Rai’s ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, the film’s leading lady played brilliantly by Kanagana Ranaut, is a rebel without a cause. She doesn’t shed a tear when her husband sends divorce papers, instead goes out and meets her formal lovers, courts them, flirts with them but stops at getting back with them. A stark contrast from the quintessential Bollywood heroine, who back in the days, would mope when the hero would leave her.

The sudden change in characterization of Hindi film characters comes as a breath of fresh air. No more of unnecessary drama or rona,dhona, no more self sacrificial mother or daughter who would think of other’s happiness before her own. Those things are of the past. Take Shefali Shah’s character in Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ for instance. When her daughter comes and states she isn’t happy with her husband, Shah is more bothered about her own image getting tampered and asks her daughter to just deal with it herself and warns her to not seek a divorce. She also schemes with her husband to get their son married to a prospective business partner’s daughter, not once thinking whether her son wants it himself.

It’s a world where characters think of their selfish needs first before their loved ones which is not necessarily a bad thing. They are flawed yet believable. Piku’s conflicts with her father are as much familiar as Tanu’s attempt at making her husband feel jealous is. We all have felt as helpless as Kabir Mehra (Ranveer Singh) does in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ at some point in our lives, and held grudges like Priyanka Chopra does against her family over petty issues.

Slowly, films are trying to reflect reality to an extent where there are no clear villains or heroes in any story. All characters have slight tinge of grey in them, just like real world. These film celebrate familial bonds but they don’t preach- they make you realize that however they may, family always comes first and that we expect them in our lives just the way they are. They may encroach our space, be selfish at times but at the end it is all about loving them and their quirks.