Piku

Plot

Piku Banerjee (Deepika Padukone) is a Bengali architect residing in Delhi, with her 70-year-old father, Bhashkor (Amitabh Bachchan). Bhashkor has problems with chronic constipation and traces every problem to his bowel movements. His habits often lead to quarrels with the servants and irritates Chhobi Mashi (Moushumi Chatterjee), who often visits them. Piku loves her father and, as her mother has died, takes good care of him but gets extremely irritated with him at times because of his eccentricities. Her colleague, Syed Afroz (Jisshu Sengupta) is a good friend, and she is a regular client of Syed's friend, Rana Chaudhary's (Irrfan Khan) taxi business. Rana has his own family problems with his mother and sister.

Piku wants to sell their ancestral home in Kolkata, Champakunj, but Bhashkor objects vehemently and decides to go to Kolkata. Piku has to accompany him, since she cannot let him travel alone. Bhashkor brings up his constipation problem and decides to travel by road. Due to Piku being very problematic with other drivers of Rana, they back away before Piku's trip. Piku, disappointed with the agency tries to book a flight, but soon, Rana arrives at their home to take the family to Kolkata himself, without informing his family about the trip.

On the way, the group encounters many incidents, including Rana on the verge of losing patience due to Bhashkor's fussy behaviour and constipation. They finally reach Kolkata, where Piku's relatives live in the old house and Bhashkor asks Rana to stay for some time. Piku and Rana go out in the city and gradually grow close. Rana also subtly hints not to sell the house during a discussion.

Rana leaves Kolkata the next day and asks Bhashkor to stop his eccentricities which he eventually listens to. Piku changes her mind and decides not to sell the house. Meanwhile, Bhashkor's sudden desire to bicycle increases as he cycles through a part of the city alone, leaving everyone tense since he did not tell them about it. When Bhashkor returns, Piku berates him for eating street food and for being irresponsible, but he simply states that his constipation is cleared and he needs to bicycle every day. He remembers Rana who had told him to eat everything and not be choosy and picky about food. Piku is secretly happy but does not emote much.

The next day, everyone discovers that Bhashkor has died in his sleep, probably from sleep apnea or cardiac arrhythmia. Piku states that he always wanted a peaceful death. She returns to Delhi, where she arranges his funeral. There, Dr. Srivastava (Raghubir Yadav), Bhashkor’s doctor, reveals to her that Syed, too, has constipation and Bhashkor knew about it for a long time. A few days later, she pays up whatever due she owes Rana. She renames the Delhi house "Bhaskor Villa" in her father’s memory and the maid, who had left due to Bhashkor’s tantrums, returns to work.

Cast

Casting

Shoojit Sircar's original choices of the main cast were Parineeti Chopra in the title role, Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. These three actors were given the script. However, Parineeti Chopra rejected the film in favour of another film, which never went on the floors. The cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan was finalised in mid-2014. In preparation for the role of Piku, Padukone learned Bengali as her character is from Bengal. There were early reports that Jisshu Sengupta was cast as the romantic lead opposite Deepika Padukone, but Sengupta plays Padukone's character's best friend. Irrfan Khan plays the romantic lead opposite Deepika Padukone. Bachchan essays the role of Piku's father, while Moushumi Chatterjee portrays Piku's aunt. Akshay Oberoi was cast in a cameo.

Filming

Principal photography for Piku began in August 2014, when the film's first schedule took off in Kolkata. The first schedule for Piku was also filmed in Delhi and Mumbai and included indoor scenes. The second schedule of filming started on 30 October 2014 in Kolkata, mostly in the north. Specifically, shooting took place at the Howrah Bridge in the city's Shyambazar neighbourhood and at Bishop Lefroy Road. During the shooting at Howrah Bridge, Bachchan bicycled around the city dressed as his character. The Kolkata schedule was completed on 18 November 2014 and shooting now shifted to Delhi and Patdi Near Surendranagar in Gujarat.

The "Journey Song" was shot in Gujarat in December 2014 on the state highway connecting Ahmedabad to Bhuj. Shooting in Delhi took place at Gurgaon cyber hub and city club where Padukone and Khan were seen filming. The film was wrapped up after its last schedule shot in Varanasi. Padukone and Khan shot on the ghats of Banaras under chilly conditions and attracted a crowd.

Promotion

The makers of the film released a video of day one on the sets of Piku which is called Piku Begins. The video has the cast speak about what viewers can expect from the film. As a part of promotions, the makers released on-set pictures of the shooting where the main cast are seen in character. Bachchan's first look was revealed — depicting his character of an old Bengali man with long hair and a big belly. On 25 March 2015, as part of the promotion, Deepika revealed the poster of the film through her Twitter handle.

Soundtrack

Anupam Roy composed the soundtrack and wrote the lyrics. The first song, "Journey Song", was released on 1 April 2015. The official music album was released online on April 21, 2015.

Critical reception

The film received wide critical acclaim upon its release. Raja Sen of Rediff.com gave Piku 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is a "film with tremendous heart -- one that made me guffaw and made me weep and is making sure I'm smiling wide just thinking about it now -- but also a sharp film, with nuanced details showing off wit, progressive thought and insightful writing". In a 4 out of 5 star review, The Times of India praised the writing, direction and performances. Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph India gave an average of 7/10, saying "Don’t go in with a lot of laugh-out-loud expectations and you will enjoy Piku for what it is –– a simple, slice-of-life bittersweet tale about a family fighting constipation". Gayatri Sankar of Zee News gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "In totality, Piku is a wonderful family film, which will certainly make you wear a broad smile." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and said "On the whole, Piku is a must watch this season as it brings back the memories of the legendary directors Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee and likes".

Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 4 stars out of five and said "Piku, directed by Shoojit Sircar, is a charming, unpredictable comedy that – like Sircar"s Vicky Donor – mines humor from the unlikeliest of places". Anuj Kumar of The Hindu gave it a positive review, saying "A slice of life that deals with the practical difficulties in loving your aging parents in a light-hearted, feel good way, Piku is a progressive piece of cinema that brings the parent back into the picture". Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times praised the portrayal of a strong, independent female protagonist and noted on how well Sircar presents a "realistic view of a typical Indian family". Anupama Chopra gave 4 out of 5 stars and said "Piku is a delightful film about very little and yet it says so much. This isn't a movie focused on reaching a destination. This is a movie about the journey, both literal and emotional". Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and called it a "magnificently original film that delivers a memorably unique movie experience" and praised the performance of the three leads. Tanmaya Nanda of Business Standard praised the film for its feminist tone and its unique approach in dealing with scatological humour. Namrata Joshi of Outlook gave 3 out of 5 stars, and wrote "Piku goes into an atypical zone for a Hindi mainstream film. It breaks the plot-driven, high on drama rule and yet manages to forge a big connect with the audience; The slice-of-life film has characters, relationships and interactions that feel real and evoke empathy in viewers—be they aging parents or their caregivers".

On the contrary, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5 out of 5, saying "Piku sparks in moments, and I threw my head back and guffawed in a few. But the rest of it stays only mildly amusing. I wanted more motion in these motions". Rachel Saltz of The New York Times wrote "Piku, directed by Shoojit Sircar from a script by Juhi Chaturvedi, isn't a typical Hindi movie. It lopes along, following no formula beyond the roughest outlines of a romantic comedy."

Box office

Piku grossed ₹50 million (US$780,000) in India on its opening day. On Saturday, the film earned ₹85 million (US$1.3 million), showing a growth of 65%. On Sunday, it earned ₹110 million (US$1.7 million), for a domestic weekend total of ₹245 million (US$3.8 million). Internationally, Piku had the biggest opening weekend for a Bollywood film of 2015, earning over US$2 million. Box Office India reported that the film had a "very strong hold" on its first Monday in India, earning ₹42.5 million (US$660,000), and it eventually earned ₹400 million (US$6.2 million) at the end of its first week. In ten days, the film earned ₹530 million (US$8.3 million) in India. The film earned ₹220 million (US$3.4 million) in its second week, and Box Office India projected that the film would earn around ₹800 million (US$12 million) domestically at the end of its theatrical run.