Immediately after emerging from a coma, Anasuya unburdens herself of a long-held secret to her husband Gopal. The secret is shocking enough for Gopal to begin divorce proceedings against his partner of 55 years.
Anasuya (Dimple Kapadia) pleads with Gopal (Pankaj Kapur) to reconsider his decision. Despite his outrage, Gopal hasn’t thought it through, as is evident from his waffling with the divorce lawyer Negi (Aparshakti Khurana).
The couple hide the source of their tensions from their family, including sons Param (Samir Soni) and Dholu (Abuli Mamaji), Param’s wife Farnaaz (Nauheed Cyrusi), and son-in-law Jignesh (Sunil Palwal). They struggle to process the sudden spats between the previously lovey-dovey elders.
Saurabh Shukla’s Jab Khuli Kitaab is based on his play of the same name. Out on ZEE5, the Hindi film half-heartedly fulfils the revelations promised by its title.
Shukla’s screenplay sets out to examine the complicated nature of a decades-old marriage, the perils of oversharing, and the difficulties involved in separation among senior citizens. But Jab Khuli Kitaab loses its resolve early on, refusing to dig deeper into the roots of Gopal’s animosity over Anasuya or even the reasons Anasuya did what she did.
The character study that was needed to make the situation plausible is missing. Shukla rolls out several sentimental scenes between Gopal and Anasuya, further weakening his argument for a permanent end to the marriage.
Rather than a layered look at separation at an advanced age, the meandering 115-minute movie becomes an open-and-shut case. Divorce emerges as an ugly word in the film’s conservative schema, summed up in Anasuya’s stern advice to the advocate Negi to “stop breaking other people’s homes and make your own”.
As a reputed actor himself, Saurabh Shukla directs Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia with care. Although Anasuya is the less sympathetic character, she – and Kapadia – are more compelling than the normally reliable Kapur as the confused Gopal. Among the supporting cast, Aparshakti Khurana has a few cute scenes as the bumbling lawyer.
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