In his acting debut in 1984, Anupam Kher played an old man bent over by personal tragedy. Four decades later, in his latest movie, Kher plays an old man pumped up by the prospect of participating in a triathlon.
Vijay 69 sees Kher as the titular hero keen on achieving the near impossible. Spurred by the desire to prove that 69-year-olds can cycle, swim and run just as well as younger participants, Vijay gets into training mode, but must first navigate an obstacle race that winds past his own fears and naysayers.
His daughter is horrified. His friends are supportive, if somewhat sceptical. Others, including the father of Vijay’s nearest rival, the vastly younger Aditya (Mihir Ahuja), are downright contemptuous.
Akshay Roy’s Hindi movie, which is out on Netflix, has the intention of being an inspirational can-do drama but not all the ingredients to make it work. The question of whether Vijay will triumph is immaterial in a feel-good comedy of this type. Anupam Kher is enthusiasm personified, wholly convincing as the sexagenarian with a point or two to prove.
But unlike the Oscar-nominated Nyad, in which Annette Bening marvellously portrayed a 60-year-old former athlete embarking on a strenuous swim, Vijay 69 treats its hero’s mission like a picnic. Vijay’s endeavour is frequently eclipsed by the kind of broad humour found in an amateur stage production put on by a bunch of retirees.
The lack of interest in making Vijay’s transformation credible peaks in the moment when a Hindi film song plays a starring role in a crucial contest. The rigour needed to underpin Vijay’s seriocomic efforts, the training montages that convince us that he isn’t going to croak before he crosses the finishing line, the emotional highs and lows along his journey are all swapped for a garden-variety comedy about kooky characters straining to be memorable.
Chunky Panday leads from the front in this regard, playing Ham-in-Chief with grating pride. As Vijay’s friend Fali, Panday has a ridiculous hairdo and the responsibility of delivering capitalised quirkiness at full volume.
The other actors are better behaved. Guddi Maruti has a sweet cameo as a nurse who comes to Vijay’s rescue. Vrajesh Hirjee plays with gusto Vijay’s swimming coach who yells out unhelpful encouragement: “You’re a penguin! A dolphin! An underwater mountain!” Vijay’s equation with Aditya produces some heartfelt scenes.
Anupam Kher goes along with Roy’s scattershot and occasionally sparky screenplay, moving smoothly from clueless boomer to youthful senior citizen. While the 112-minute film gives Kher a large canvas to display his range, the plotting and staging make Vijay’s feat seem like a happy accident, rather than the result of pure athleticism and sheer willpower.
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