So
okay.
Comedies
are
hard
to
sustain
for
more
than
an
hour...and
yes,
this
one
does
over-run
its
playing
time
by
20
minutes,
although
it's
just
about
a
100
minutes
in
length.
And
that's
a
100
conveying
sustained
satirical
strength.
The
quality
of
the
humour
and
the
context
of
the
characters'
comic
tangles
is,
on
the
ha-ha-ho-ho
whole,
adroitly
maintained,
sustained
and
executed.
So
here
goes.
A
cantankerous
old
woman
in
Delhi,
Sudha
Mishra
(Dimple
Kapadia,
delightfully
over-the-top)
leaves
her
home
and
its
two
specific
properties
namely
the
pet
fish
and
the
money-plant,
in
the
care
of
her
couldn't-care-less
niece,
who
promptly
hands
over
the
responsibility
to
her
ever
accommodating
boyfriend.
The
rest
of
this
wackily
wound-up
comedy
records
the
relay
race
styled
exchange
of
the
old
woman's
home's
care
from
one
set
of
noisy
eccentric
characters
to
another.
Besides
its
immensely
warm
underbelly,
what
captures
your
attention
is
the
originality
of
the
material.
Here
is
a
comedy
that
seeks
no
reference
points
from
foreign
sources,
does
not
lean
towards
Hollywood
for
its
humour
quotient.
No,
this
is
not
a
take
on
Chris
Columbus'
Home
Alone.
Set
in
Delhi,
though
not
compulsively
taken
up
with
taking
us
on
a
tour
of
the
capital,
the
narrative
gets
its
energy
from
the
robust
telling
of
a
reasonably
sturdy
comic
situation.
The
wit
is
never
derivative
but
constantly
probing
suburban
eccentricities.
The
character
of
the
Haryanvi
lout
Hooda
(Mithun
Rodwittiya),
who
plays
patron-lover
to
a
Mary
Kom
lookalike
boxer
from
Manipur,
would
be
a
laughing
stock
were
he
not
so
desperately
pathetic.
The
performances
add
to
the
narrative's
flavourful
texture.
The
actors,
young
and
old,
are
cleverly
cast.
While
Dimple's
cranky
act
is
expectedly
winsome
(when
has
this
actress
not
been
a
winner?),
Manu
Rishi
as
the
neighbourhood
lech
who
seduces
his
young
friend's
naive
fiancee
(Deepti
Pujari)
when
she
is
home
alone
puts
in
the
other
outstanding
performance.
Manu
is
an
actor
who
knows
his
character's
sleazy
underbelly
and
nails
it
unabashedly.
There
are
other
interesting
characters,
like
the
young
vain
Haryanvi
boxer
Rajpal(Vishal
Sharma)
who
likes
to
crossdress
in
the
night
and
performs
a
kathak
mujra
in
the
isolation
of
Dimple's
mauled
and
misused
abode.
And
Manjot
Singh
as
a
pet
shop
owner,
whose
sales
of
a
particular
variety
of
pet
fish
escalate,
is
also
in-sync
with
the
satire.
Come
to
think
of
it,
the
actors
are
all
delightful,
careening
from
the
comic
to
the
crazy
without
losing
a
beat
or
succumbing
to
the
pressures
of
the
heated
humour.
I
found
portions
of
the
comedy
to
be
undernourished
and
over
baked.
The
climatic
scream
ended
up
as
a
shuddering
whimper.
But
that
didn't
take
away
from
the
swing
and
the
sting
of
the
frenetic
chuckle-worthy
happenings.
Quirky,
capricious
and
cute,
What
The
Fish
is
a
warm
little
concoction
with
pockets
of
endearing
eccentricity
and
feyness.
The
midriff
of
the
narrative
sags.
But
there
are
ample
measures
of
giggle-inducing
characters
hiding
their
own
ridiculousness
in
the
garb
of
urbane
casualness.
Verdict
Gurmeet
Singh
keeps
the
proceedings
frothy
and
even
paced.
You
may
not
come
away
with
much
of
a
message
to
take
home.
But
by
jove,
you
will
never
ever
leave
your
home
in
the
care
of
any
relative
after
this.
Cast:
Dimple
Kapadia,
Vishal
Sharma,
Sumit
Suri,
Mithun
Rodwittiya,
Deepti
Pujari,
Manjot
Singh
and
Manu
Rishi
Director:
Gurmmeet
Singh
IANS