Incredibly heart-warming, super relatable and extremely well made, Sharmaji Namkeen is a film that will surely make the entire family smile and also, make a permanent place in your heart.

Sharmaji Namkeen, Rishi Kapoor’s swansong is a heartfelt, slice-of-life family drama-comedy revolving around the daily struggles in a retired man’s life and how he finds purpose and passion again juggling family and society stereotypes.

There couldn’t have been a better farewell for the actor as this character and the plot suits so well on Rishi Kapoor and he is able to play it fantastically with his playful yet warming charm.

While Rishi Kapoor couldn’t complete the film’s shooting entirely, the makers still wanted to go ahead with the production keeping his half-done bit intact and roping in another actor to do the remaining. A thing like this rarely happens in the world of cinema and is a very risky thing to do. The makers’ leap of faith paid off, as Paresh Rawal- who was pulled in for the balance role, filled in Rishi Kapoor’s shoes perfectly. Though there cannot be a comparison, but I couldn’t have thought of any other actor other than Paresh Rawal to be playing the part. The film also starts with Ranbir Kapoor delivering a heartfelt prologue and explain the maker’s reasons for doing so.

You may doubt on how a move like this might translate on screen, but the makers have pulled it off extremely smoothly. There are no hiccups or glitches and there are also times when you really don’t consciously understand the transition between the two actors.

Coming to the technicalities, Hitesh Bhatia, the writer director has kept simplicity at the core of this film. It doesn’t over-intellectualize life and nor does it try consciously to give you any morals or life lessons. The fundamental idea of the story is to portray a middle-class family’ everyday life and the relationship between retired parent and their modern kids. Hitesh also walks on the theme of following one’s heart and passion without letting age or societal stereotypes be a bar. Also, little things like how it is necessary to stay busy and how people who’ve worked all their lives can never be idle has been showcased very aptly.

The screenplay is crisp and the length very tight. The dialogues are extremely authentic and very thoughtfully written. The common touch in the dialogues makes them real and relatable. He has also directed the actors with ease and has a perfect grip on the flow which is apparent in the output.

The film is beautifully shot in Delhi and captures the socio-cultural milieu neatly. Delhi, its people, their culture, the streets, the food and everything that is in between is nicely brought on screen.

The performance of Rishi Kapoor and Paresh Rawal, like mentioned earlier, is really great, and can never be praised enough. The actors playing the secondary characters including Juhi Chawla, Isha Talwar, Sheeba Chaddha and Parmeet Sethi add up the needful.

On the whole, Sharmaji Namkeen is a very heart-warming, slice of life drama comedy that you can watch with your parents and family. It has a lot to offer. Plenty of light hearted comedy, drama, and beautiful perspective on life that we tend to often forget. More than all these reasons, it is Rishi Kapoor’s last onscreen performance and shouldn’t be missed at any cost. Also, two actors playing one role, won’t happen anytime soon. And at last, it will make you smile!

Sharmaji Namkeen is co-produced by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment along with Honey Trehan’s Mac Guffin Pictures. It is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

You can watch Ranbir Kapoor’s prologue from the film here:

You can also watch a special tribute video made by the producers along with the music label, Saregama. It features a lot of A listed Bollywood Stars including Rishi Kapoor’s son, Ranbir Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Farhan Akhtar, Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor, Ananya Pandey. The tribute video is on his most popular song, Om Shanti Om and is choreographed by Ganesh Hegde.