102 Not Out

“A part of me was grateful that a film about two ordinary, old men exists. Cinema, the world over, is obsessed with youth and beauty. We don’t see wrinkles and failing bodies often enough. It’s almost as if filmmakers have made a pact to pretend that we aren’t all heading to this stage.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“Few films bother to explore this relationship from the point of middle-aged sons and their over-the-hill fathers. Although it’s not an entirely unexplored territory if you consider the dramatic dispute between Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor in Kal Aaj Aur Kal, the silly banter outlining Shammi Kapoor and Anupam Kher’s camaraderie in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya and the plausible ups and downs impacting Adil Hussain and Lalit Behl’s bond in the profound, poignant Mukti Bhawan. The only difference here is 102 Not Out believes in treating age as a purpose instead of a dead-end.”

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review

“No doubt it’s great to see a film about two old people with unseemly paunches, bad hair, heavily wrinkled faces, dressed in slept-in clothes and not doing much, as all old people, if lucky, should get to do. But we have seen both Bachchan and Kapoor in that avatar in better films (Piku especially, and in Kapoor & Sons) before this.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“Two seasoned actors go all out to stamp their class on a film that fails to benefit fully from their sparkling presence.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

“The film glosses over the real messiness of old age, sticking to an upbeat, cheery take on ageing. To be fair though, they never claimed they were making Michael Haneke’s Amour.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“The message is clear — the earlier generation still made a place for their elders, the millennials don’t.”

Rating: 3.5 stars | Full review

“Not doing enough to transmute the flatness of theatre into the wholesomeness of cinema… this film plays out like a recording of a theatre performance – save for the live locations.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

“The primary issue is that 102 Not Out is too static. This lack of dynamism is both physical – with the Vakharias cooped up inside their bungalow for most of the film, giving away the film’s theatrical origin – and emotional, since the film never goes anywhere, except for the older man becoming more and more overt in his emotional manipulation, something that may also be said for Shukla.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review