Most movies on protagonists with disabilities tend to be successful. But that is the commercial viewpoint, which is valid because exposure to understanding diverse such ailments (some rare) is a must even in 2025 India where ignorance and social stereotyping still thrive. And without entertaining the audience enough to work at the box-office, such enterprises, however diligently made, are fruitless. Example: if a film is to be made on staying on in one’s motherland, it should be as heartfelt as Naam (which hit the jackpot), not as boring and unrealistic as Swades(which flopped).
Weeks ago, we watched the brilliant Sitaare Zameen Par, the spiritual sequel to another masterly film, Taare Zameen Par. And now, making a gigantic evolution as filmmaker and writer, Anupam Kher directs a sensitive, sensible, thought-provoking motion-picture experience named Tanvi—The Great. Thankfully, it joins a fairly long and illustrious list that also comprises Koshish, Iqbal, Black, Barfi! and Hichki. And if Jagga Jasoos, Sparsh and Khamoshi—The Musical did not make it, there were individual-specific reasons for it, again in the crucial department of audience appeal.
Tanvi… centers around Tanvi (Kher has taken inspiration from real-life niece, Tanvi, who is an autistic and features prominently in the post-climax, along with his mother Dulari, all of 97 today, and brother Raju Kher). The reel Tanvi here is essayed by his student, (in his academy, An Actor Prepares) Shubhangi Dutt, who can be described by the French as c’est magnifique. If she does not win an award, it will devalue the award and not her.
Shubhangi has apparently spent a fortnight with the real Tanvi and had been instructed by Anupam to “observe her soul” rather than mimic her. And what she has achieved will last her a lifetime as an understanding actor and an evolved human being. Every expression, gesture, movement and reaction seem to have come from someone who must have lived an autistic person within here for the duration of the film’s making!
The story is set between Delhi and Lansdowne, a hill resort where there is also a military base in Uttaranchal. Tanvi is Vidya Raina (Pallavi Agnihotri)’s autistic daughter, and her husband, Captain Samar Raina (Karan Tacker) had died in an enemy explosion, on the way to realize his dream of hosting the Tricolor at Siachen, the world’s highest battleground.
When Tanvi’s mother has to attend a lo-o-o-ong convention (the only hyperbole element in the story, and avoidable at that!) on Autism in New York, the ‘burden’ of looking after Tanvi falls on Samar’s grandfather, Col. Pratap Raina (Anupam Kher), a widower now who lives alone in Lansdowne. Pratap initially does not understand Tanvi and almost wants Vidya to cancel her trip so that he is not left alone to look after her. But Vidya predicts that he will come to understand her slowly, and her prediction is not just bang-on but comes true beyond expectations!
As Tanvi, who makes friends pronto, wins over not just her grandpa but also her music teacher there, Raza Saab (Boman Irani) and Brigadier Joshi (Jackie Shroff), she also discovers her father’s unrealized dream (she was 7 when he died) of hoisting the Tricolor at Siachen after foraging through his room (which has been lovingly preserved by Pratap).
Her only dream now is to fulfil that, but there are two obstacles: she has to join the Army, as only their personnel can go there, and the Army does not allow autistics in the force! And now, despite reasoned discouragement from her grandfather, Tanvi begins and completes her military training and appears for the interview. What happens next?
The thrill element at the end becomes a shade less in impact because of the Utopian end and a slight excess in length. But for a message film like this, the rather implausible climax can be overlooked.
Anupam Kher and Jackie Shroff (both especially), Pallavi Joshi, Boman Irani (totally charming in his demeanor), M. Nassar (in the recruiting interview), Arvind Swami, Gautam Ahuja as Joshi’s son and Devender Madan as Joshi’s mother strike home in their performances along with Iain Glen and Ashish Kauhsik in smaller roles.
The script is heartfelt, the dialogues wonderful (Kher with Ankur Suman and Abhishek Dixit) and the production values superb. Kher’s direction is passionate and if it can be faulted at all, it is in the underuse of the brilliant songs of M.M. Keeravani and the spot-on lyrics of Kausar Munir. It is to the writers’ credit that the written word does not resort to melodrama and yet stirs our emotional chord. The background score too is perfect.
Watch this film for its passion, its magic and the takeaways.
Rating: ****
Anupam Kher Studio presents Tanvi—The Great Produced & Directed by: Anupam Kher Written by: Anupam Kher, Ankur Suman & Abhishek Dixit Music: M.M. Keeravani Starring: Shubhangi Dutt, Anupam Kher, Jackie Shroff, Pallavi Agnihotri, Karan Tacker, Boman Irani, Arvind Swami, Iain Glen, M. Nasser, Ashish Kaushik, Devender Khanna, Gautan Ahuja & others
(Used under special arrangement with NIT)
