Helicopter Eela is based on the Gujarati play Beta Kaagdo by Anand Gandhi. The story revolves around a mother and son’s relationship. The bond between Ella Raiturkar (Kajol) is a single mother and her college-going son Vivan(Riddhi Sen) is very strong especially since Eela is a single mother and Vivan is all she has in her life. Like most helicopter parents, Eela’s life totally revolves around her son, from constantly reminding him to carry his dubba to college, entering his room without his permission to even joining his college as a student! Vivan starts feeling suffocated with all the motherly smothering and that’s where the trouble starts.
The first half focuses mostly on Eela’s past; it’s about how she was a gifted singer and her struggles and success as a playback singer. It’s about her love story, her married life with Vivan’s father and her husband’s abrupt exit from their life when Vivan is around 4 years old.if you are a 90s kid then you might enjoy the reference to the pop culture and songs during that era. I enjoyed singing out loud the songs like ‘Ruk Ruk Ruk’ and the Lifebuoy jingle; “Tandurusti Ka Raksha Karta Hai Lifebuoy. LifeBuoy Hai Jahan Tandurusti Hain Wahan,’’ along with Eela much to my sassy teen’s dismay!
Yes, this was one preview where my daughter accompanied me since we were asked to bring our teenage kids along for this one. As the film progressed my teen kept giving me looks that said; “You see that’s exactly how It feels when you hover around me all the time!”
Barring a few scenes, the film is mostly relatable. Unlike most Hindi film mothers who are shown as being picture perfect or all sacrificing, Eela is real, not perfect and has flaws like all of us. There were many scenes where one could actually relate to her. One that I could totally relate to was where she fights with an autowala and threatens to take him to the police station just because he refuses to give ferry them. Especially for those of us who live in Mumbai, we have all often experienced those annoying autowalas who refuse to give you a ride, if the distance you need to travel is too short. My pet line to them mostly is; “Bhaiyaji kya aap seedha London jana chahoge?” And if my teen happens to be with me she kind of hides her face and gives me the most disgusting look and says, “Gawwd mom you’re so embarrassing!” exactly like Vivan!
However, there were scenes that were not really convincing like Eela’s struggle which I thought was too easy, or the reason for her husband walking out and abandoning them, the scene in the climax where Eela sings without a mic and everyone in that huge auditorium can hear her! Also, there was no clarity about what Eela did for a living as a single mother.
However, the performances of the cast that makes the film a pleasure to watch. What I also liked about the film is the way the songs have been blended with the film. Kajol as Eela is perfect and one can see the doting mother in her even on screen. In her interview, Kajol said that she’s a bit like Eela in real life too and loves to make friends with her teenage daughter’s friends. It’s like watching Kajol as a mother in real life on the big screen! She fits into Eela’s shoes perfectly and looks absolutely gorgeous! It’s Kajol’s film all the way.
Riddhi Sen as Vivan is impressive. He plays with perfection a youngster torn between wanting to be independent, yet being emotionally attached to his mother. The only problem I felt was with his accent. In the film, Eela and Vivan belong to a typical Punjabi family but Riddhi has this strong Bengali accent when he speaks and that somehow sounded incorrect with the character he was playing.
Neha Dhupia who plays a play director at Vivan’s college is always a pleasure to watch. She is comfortable in her roles, supporting the leading ladies in films like Tumhari Sulu or Netflix’s Lust Stories and now Helicopter Eela. It’s fun to watch her fling things like shoes, bottles and whatever she catches hold of at people when they don’t sing in the desired pitch!
Helicopter Eela is a warm, emotional journey of a mother-son. There are some heartwarming moments in the movie. The film does manage to win your heart in a few scenes. The credit, of course, goes to Kajol.
While the film has its flaws, it’s a film that you should watch with your teenage kids. Both of you will walk out of the film learning a thing or two! We definitely did, I’ve promised my teen not to suffocate her with too much love and she admitted that she is sometimes unreasonable and rude to me!
Helicopter Eela is a simple heartwarming story and will leave you with a smile.Go watch it!
