We all loved Piku- a wholesome, winsome, funny and endearing tale of a modern woman and her tumultuous relationship with her cranky, hypochondriac, septuagenarian father.The fact that the fabulous Mr.Amitabh Bachchan portrayed Piku's father made us love the old man so much more. His continued obsession with his belly motions had us in splits. The wit and the banter between the two and the various other characters in the movie seemed so real and quite in tandem with our middle class sensibilities. Like the protoganist Piku, today's generation is torn between love and duty for aging parents and pursuance of personal goals and ambitions. Who wins in the tussle is anybody's guess? A lot of folks are fine tuning themselves according to their kids' wishes and lifestyle but a few like Bhaskar Bannerjee, Piku's father, have subjugated their logical reasoning at the altar of the selfish gene working overtime in their frail bodies. Yes, it sounds blasphemous but an undeniable and uncomfortable fact screaming at us is that Parents can be selfish too ! At times their self obsession and an overpowering need to be cared for by their offsprings blinds them to their children's aspirations and the practical aspects of life. They don't hesitate in imposing their will upon their kids and often resort to the 'brahmastra' of emotional blackmail to win their case. No arguing, no debating, they are the judge and jury. Next only to the almighty!
When we see Piku's father, we see a class act by Amitabh Bachchan and get mesmerised by his brilliance as an artist. We fail to get put off by his excessive dependence on his grownup, harried and multi-tasking daughter trying her level best to build her life around her whimsical father's numerous eccentricities. His reluctance to allow her to marry anyone, his weirdly embarrassing comments (she's not a virgin, he says to a first time acquaintance), his obstinate ways aiming at deliberately making life difficult for her don't scandalise us because we know it's just Amitabh enacting one of his characters par excellence. On analysing the character dispassionately, it becomes clear there is a scared old mind set on high self-preservation mode behind the agglutinant father who wants to hold onto his daughter as a lifeline. He is unapologetically clinging and demanding. It's obviously amusing for the audience but clearly enormously exasperating for the girl at the receiving end of the drama; the loving, dutiful daughter at the end of her tether.
"You can't judge parents", Piku says defensively about her father after his death. Here is an intelligent, no-nonsense girl who tolerated a lot of shit from her father. This one line summarises the beauty of a parent-child relationship. It doesn't adhere to ordinary standards of behaviour. You don't always need to critically analyse each other. You know each other's weak points ,you learn to accept them and still love one another limitlessly, timelessly - Selfishness be damned. Genes win. Always.
