New Delhi

Many educated Muslims continue to follow the Pakistani TV dramas, which, by modern standards of entertainment redefined by the OTTs, are slow and non-relatable. Probably, they feel the hunger for a Muslim story sans the stereotypes, which is missing in the vast Indian entertainment spectrum.

Anusha Rizvi's film 'The Great Shamsuddin Family', being streamed on SonyLiv, comes as a breath of fresh air. A comedy touching the anxieties and tension of modern Indian Muslims in a breezy way, softly hits the hearts and minds of the viewers.

The film by Peepli Live maker Anush Rizvi is wholesome and clean entertainment and even subtly provides food for thought to all Indians.

The film’s soft tone steers clear of dramatic political commentaries, pontification or the victimhood syndrome; its characters resemble the dadi’s Nanis, mothers, sisters and friends next door.

The Shamsuddin family has no character with kohl-rimmed eyes, always reading namaz, eating kebab and biryani; women covered from head to toe. They don’t even say 'Janaab' with a qawwali playing in the background, at the drop of a hat.

The Poster of The Great Shamsuddin Family

The story revolves around a day in the Indian Muslim family in the urban settings, where women have dreams, ambitions and friends outside the religion, men marry non-Muslims even though it generates tension momentarily.

A riot is seen as life-threatening through a television broadcast, leading to familiar anxieties, and turns out to be a false flag.  

The story is brought to life by talented actors like Farida Jalal, Dolly Ahluiwalial and Sheeba Chadha. The film deals with the dreams of the grandmother to perform Umrah, the worries of young people related to their careers and the future, and love, confusion, and pain of divorces and tension of managing meher given by ex-husband as cash.

The ordinariness of the members of the Shamsuddin family – highly opinionated women who wear jeans and have non-Muslim friends coming to their home, quirky grannies whose antics regale the audiences, an ambitious young girl who is wondering whether to leave India for work due to prevailing mahual, a young man barging into the scene with his Hindu girlfriends as they miss the chance to get married under the Special marriage Act – endears them to viewers.   

While watching it, a discerning mind wonders why it feels so different to see a certain community on screen as ordinary people. Is this gap created by the portrayal of Muslims by the mainstream media?

The film is a story of a few hours in the life of the Shamsuddin family. It’s soothing amidst the adrenaline-generating television debates about Hindu-Muslim issues – some genuine, others manufactured for TRPs – and Muslim bashing and the community playing the victim card too often.

A Hindu friend’s words to his Muslim friend, who is somewhat angry at the ‘mahaul in India’ and flirting with the idea of going to the US, ring a bell: “Nations are like families, uthal puthal toh chalti rehti hai, but if you leave them in turmoil, the turbulence will stay with you for the rest of your life.

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The Great Shamsuddin Family movie cast: Kritika Kamra, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Farida Jalal, Sheeba Chaddha, Pubab Kohli, Joyeeta Dutta, Dolly Ahluwalia, Juhi Babbar Soni, Nishank Verma, Anushka Bannerjee, Natasha Rastogi, Anup Soni