A great subject for a comeback film for Sridevi! It is fantastic to see her again on the silver screen. Gauri Shinde, Balki’s wife has scripted a subject close to a woman’s heart. As a producer, Balki’s 2nd film after Paa is also a commendable subject. A woman may feel dejected and dismayed if she is rejected by her own husband and children, for many reasons.
Shashi, played by Sridevi, is a dismal housewife whose husband and daughter look at her with pity and disrespect, just because she cannot speak English. They do not share their office or school life respectively, with her and ridicule and abuse her. Shashi does a small business of making ‘Boondi Laddoos’ and doing their home delivery. This is the only thing which makes her happy and her son, Sagar who loves and consoles her. Her mother-in-law also offers her understanding and support. She loses all confidence in herself. The monotony of her life breaks when one day the news of the marriage of the elder daughter of her sister in New York brings a change in her life. She is forced to travel alone to help her sister. In the flight to New York the entry of Amitabh Bachchan is a breather.
New York is a new chapter in Shashi’s life where her sister lives with her two daughters. The elder daughter, Meera, is getting married to a foreigner. The younger daughter, Radha is closer to Shashi and helps her at every stage. One day Shashi joins English learning classes for four weeks, secretly. The teacher, David and her classmates respect her a lot. A French classmate falls in love with her, which she refuses to reciprocate. Soon she starts enjoying herself and her confidence in herself and life is revived. One day Radha finds out her aunt (Masi’s) secret and is happy to meet her teacher and friends. She is delighted for her aunt. When her husband and children reach New York Shashi is happy as she missed them a lot, but her classes get neglected. The day of the final examination is the day of the marriage hence she cannot appear for it. The entire class and the teacher come to the marriage party and her husband is shocked to meet Shashi’s friends. The climax opens the eyes of Shashi’s husband and daughter who are zapped to see her speak in English when blessing her niece. Shashi is elated to get her certificate from David.
The role of every character in the film is meaningful. The music is simple and the songs ‘Aflatoon’ and title song are fun to watch. Indian values are portrayed on a higher in the film. Amitabh’s dialogue which puts down the Americans is a true pun. The film is ‘an emotional musical journey of an Indian housewife in the modern world seeking respect for being, herself’.