All Is Well

All Is Well tickles – but lacks depth

Story: Inder’s parents have a dysfunctional marriage, a huge loan and a don chasing them – can Inder ensure all is well?

Review: So, All Is Well is a film that literally takes you back. Inder (Abhishek) grows up seeing his parents Bhajanlal Bhalla (Rishi) and Pammi (Supriya) clash through a stormy marriage. Breaking away, Inder abandons his parents in Kasol to make a musical career in Thailand where he dates Nimmi (Asin) but hates the thought of shaadi. Nimmi leaves for an arranged marriage in India. Inder goes along to sign on property papers – which are actually needed to repay don Cheema (Mohammed Zeeshan).



As his bitterly bickering parents, Inder and Nimmi try to shake off chasing Cheema, Inder discovers a few home truths – but can he make all well?

All Is Well’s performances warm it – Rishi Kapoor gleams as small-town sourpuss Bhalla, who loves his failing bakery but dislikes his family. Abhishek Bachchan provides a terrific foil as wry, dry Inder, whose anger is ignited by hurtful memories and who now wounds with his cold, sharp words. Abhishek pulls off drawling tension against Rishi’s flowing abandon – while Mohammed Zeeshan contributes a comically crackling Cheema, a don with an unloaded gun, goons who won’t push ‘gaimata’ out of the way and no balance to make threat calls on his phone.

Asin has a petite role but Surpriya Pathak’s totally wasted, limited to wincing or looking blank, sound editing frequently inserting groans upon her silent face.

Technical shabbiness is the film’s weakest link. There are plot glitches and dated touches. At times, as the vintage QSQT hit 'Aye Mere Humsafar' plays, you feel you’re watching a 1990s movie where the hero is told, ‘Teri awaaz mein dard hai’ and everyone wears shoulder pads. There’s also a bizarre sequence involving a mercenary maami, which stretches beyond the film’s otherwise gentle humour.

All Is Well lacks the cutting-edge sharpness or glittering depth of Umesh Shukla’s OMG. With its old-world feel, it’s not a cool cocktail but a teashop bun, dunked in sentimental tea. It could’ve been way better – but there’s some sweetness too in this simple treat.