‘Vijay 69’ movie review: Anupam Kher takes a dip in the channel of mediocrity

Anupam Kher as Vijay Mathew in ‘Vijay 69’
| Photo Credit: Talib Amrohi/Netflix

One day, a foul-mouthed man on the cusp of 70 realises that he doesn’t have any achievement in his lifelog that will keep him alive for posterity. A national-level swimmer who didn’t strive enough to change the colour of his bronze medal, Vijay Mathew (Anupam Kher) is an ordinary old man seeking a sliver of gold dust. Having lost his supportive wife to cancer, he is withering from the inside and appears grumpy from the outside. Still, he hasn’t given up on the magic of life and doesn’t want those around him to undermine his leap of faith when an opportunity presents itself. Vijay decides to participate in a tough triathlon contest to make it to record books and give something back to his friends who stood by him.

Writer-director Akshay Roy has a promising premise about a complex character that we can relate to but the film fails to provide him the wheels to last the distance. On paper, it reads like an episode in Anupam’s popular play How much can you do? that celebrates the extraordinary leaps that ordinary life can take. However, it works out like a PowerPoint presentation to sell Vijay to a disbelieving audience, in which slides touch upon the obvious obstacles in the path of the unlikely hero, without being kneaded into a compelling storyline or generating an engaging experience. Instead of instilling emotion into the narrative, Roy keeps falling back on the Asha Bhosle number “Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu…” from During (1965) to underline the essence of the film.

A daughter who doesn’t want her father to take up the challenge because of health reasons, friends who have faith in his intent but not in his age, a young competitor who crosses his path, the need for a sponsor for equipment and gear, and above all the will to fulfil the promises made to the deceased wife — Roy writes all the necessary paragraphs but with the skill of a machine manual where characters are reduced to caricatures meant to carry out the task of jokes.

With little to reflect upon, it feels like an advertisement to promote triathlon, the new fad among fitness enthusiasts in all age groups. It is good to see Chunky Panday back as the Parsi doctor friend of Vijay but it seems he has been told to exaggerate his Pasta act of the Housefull franchise. Mihir Ahuja as the young participant who forges a bond with Vijay, Guddi Maruti as the wholesome caretaker, and Vrijesh Hirjee as the good-hearted coach, provide some hope but the makers seem keen on playing up underwritten characters with overblown expressions.

Anupam Kher as Vijay Mathew in ‘Vijay 69’
| Photo Credit:
Talib Amrohi / Netflix

In times when OTT platforms are vying for the attention of audiences who were, until recently, glued to general entertainment channels, the film turns out like a pitch for a television serial about an old man doing quirky things. Made on similar lines, Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchaiwhere Anupam charged up the melodrama with Amitabh Bachchan, made an impact. Interestingly, Anupam is cast as Vijay, and Yash Raj Films which distributed Uunchai has produced Vijay 69.

It goes without saying that Anupam can whip up emotions with the most facile of scripts. Known to play aged characters with amazing felicity from a young age, Anupam here gets to play his age and there are moments where he does make us identify with the desperation and motivation of Vijay. However, with a lot of soapy material around and little intent from the makers to take it some Uunchaithe veteran ends up making bubbles in thin air.

Vijay 69 is currently streaming on Netflix