I Want To Talk review: Abhishek Bachchan is the highlight of this silent but impactful film!

While this isn’t Shoojit Sircar’s best work, it still manages to keep you invested throughout and the cast of the film is a huge reason for that!

I Want To Talk review: Shoojit Sircar is one of those directors in our industry who have mastered the art of saying so much just through a simple story. There’s a certain calmness and comfort in his films that draws audiences to the theaters. Piku is arguably one of his best works and the film heavily relies on a father-daughter relationship. Taking that tradition forward, he has given us yet another impressionable father-daughter story through ‘I Want To Talk’ which feels like the modern day version of Piku, not just because Abhishek Bachchan steps into the shoes of a father like Amitabh Bachchan did in Piku, but also because it beautifully portrays the love-hate relationship most daughters have with their dads.

The film is centered around Arjun Sen (Abhishek Bachchan), a marketing professional who is diagnosed with last stage cancer; he's told that he has 100 days to live. Hence he starts spending more time with his daughter, Reya (younger version played by Pearle Dey). At the same time, his divorce is finalized. When nothing is going his way, he almost gives up until his nurse, Nancy saves him. In all of this, what gives him hope to keep going is his daughter’s request - dancing with him at her wedding. Here begins a father’s relentless pursuit to constantly escape death and extend the span of his life as much as he can. In the process of this, he has 20 surgeries to get rid of his cancer, to breathe better and to fix a broken rib. If this was a fictional story, I would totally discard it. I mean how could someone ever live through so many procedures and have the zest to keep living? But I Want To Talk is actually a true story! There actually is an Arjun Sen who stays in California, who went through all of these things and more! 

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This is what adds so much credibility to Abhishek Bachchan’s work in the film. From the look, mannerisms, to understanding his entire journey as a patient, he does it all with so much conviction that you cannot help but constantly root for him! Ahilya Bamroo, who plays the teenage version of his daughter Reya, says that her father has pretty much maneuvered his own destiny. That is exactly what the moral of the film even is! As long as there’s a will there’s a way and Arjun’s will to live says a lot about how you can literally fight cancer if you put your mind to it. It’s all about tricking yourself into thinking that nothing can beat you and you can actually survive all the curveballs life throws at you.

The relationship between Reya and Arjun is one that would be relatable to many daughters. They have fights over her dating life and staying out late. He gives major Indian dad energy when he lectures her about irresponsibility over getting the wrong pair of shoes from her mom’s house. Just like all dads, Arjun is also a member of the ‘dad jokes club’ where in the most intense situations he’ll throw a PJ in the middle and make us all roll our eyes. You see a lot of Piku in Reya. As a single child, she is also solely responsible for taking care of her dad at a very young age. He will take charge of how all his surgeries should be, he literally asks his doctor to show him where all the cuts will be made, to explain what the procedure will be like even if it is too graphic to see or hear. So she is bound to take care of him like she would care for a child!

Ahilya Bamroo builds a camaraderie with Abhishek Bachchan that actually makes you believe that they’re capable of having silly banters like a father and daughter. In a scene where Reya tells her dad how difficult it is for her to remember everything whilst juggling between two houses, it shows you the perspective of what life is like for a child of divorce. Johnny Lever as Subodh, Arjun’s friend, adds much needed humor for a film like this. There are some bits where this film reminds you a bit of October as well - another stellar film by the director. Because at heart, I Want To Talk teaches you to keep your loved ones close to your heart.

Indian dads might not tell us they love us everyday but their way of showing that is to literally beat a terminal illness, or give us a hundred instructions while traveling or make us food. While Piku still wins in the father-daughter universe of Shoojit Sircar, I Want To Talk is one that will speak more to the newer generation. 

I Want To Talk is currently streaming at a theater near you!

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