Pestonjee (1988)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Generally I don't spend time writing a movie review, but after watching Pestonjee I just had to. The movie has so much to offer: 1) Multiple layers: It is not just the characters but even the movie itself which has so many layers to it. As the movie moves from one scene to another you can relate to a scene half an hour back. You connect the threads to understand the circumstances than and how it led to the characters behaving the way they did. Most such movies generally do this for you near the movie end, but Pestonjee respects it's viewer's intelligence and leaves it up to viewers to fathom the events. When you watch this movie, always try to link each scene to some sequence in the past and you will come to appreciate the movie tremendously. 2) Brilliant Acting: With an awesome star cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher and Kiron Kher you kind of expect it. But this is one of their finest. Especially Naseeruddin Shah with his Parsi punches. What amazed me the most was how subtle changes in movie emotions are not conveyed through dialogue or events, but rather through Naseeruddin Shah's facial and bodily expressions. He plays a very quiet, introvert character but carries the entire movie on his shoulders. The movie might appear to move very slowly as the surroundings and the dialogues maintain the same tone throughout, but one needs to read between the lines and characters to really gauge how quickly the movie moves. 3) Emotions: Pestonjee contains all the emotions that you could think of. Comedy, tragedy, friendship, love, trust, betrayal, sacrifice, greed, satisfaction and lot more. 4) A Message: The movie has so many messages to convey. But the most central one is conveyed in movie's last line. The inherent human weakness of complaining about or comparing lives rather than trying to enjoy what we have. It couldn't have been portrayed better.I am a big Naseeruddin Shah fan and try to watch all his movies. But just hats off to Pirojsha. From amongst all his movies that I have seen, this for me is his finest performance ever and by some distance as well. Just a shame that such a combination of acting, direction and story can't be found in current generation of movies. This movie is a must watch!

I have always enjoyed pestonjee primarily because i have myself lived in Karachi where exists a sizable parsee community. the film has been brilliantly made and th locations are so reminiscent of parsee culture that i tend to float back into the realm of 70s when the time was pure and there was always time for other people. however if acting is to be considered then i must say that Anupam kher and Kiran Kher both failed miserably. i understand Kiren but Anupam was the main lead and could never once speak the way Parsees do. on the other hand Shabana came out great followed by Naseer.what is even more wonderful is how in 1988 the period that is much before the actual has been created. i also find starkling similarity between the parsee culture in Bombay and the same i have seen in Karachi. many congratulation to the entire team that worked in the making of the film.