Naankhatai

Story: With three stories of love, longing and hope, weaved beautifully to keep you immersed, Naankhatai revolves around three families. As Surya (Mayur Chauhan) and his father (Hiten Kumar) try to rekindle their bond, Raghuveersinh (Mitra Gadhvi) and Sitaba (Deeksha Joshi) try to navigate through hardships. Ram (Tatsat Munshi) and Maithili (Esha Kansara) have their own challenges to explore in love.

Review: Hiten Kumar and Kalpana Gagdekar are flawless as usual. Hiten’s honesty as a police officer will make you believe that we still have a lot of goodness left in the world. This is Esha Kansara’s finest performance and Tatsat Munshi is an absolute treat with all his raw honesty. Mitra Gadhvi and Deeksha Joshi’s strong performances make you feel their turmoil. Mayur Chauhan spills his heart out as Surya, while Tarjanee supports the film well. You wish she had more screen time.

All the actors work perfectly in tandem to bring a solid, relatable film to the audience. Nankhatai shows how Gujarati cinema is no longer just about comedies. It will hopefully open new avenues for character actors too.

With its honest portrayal of life’s struggles, the film will evoke nostalgia for many, be an eye-opener for a few and heartbreaking for everyone. It reminds us that every story is different, yet similar in many ways.

The background score by Siddharth Amit Bhavsar holds the film together. The beautiful lyrics of songs like Meghli Sanjh will bring tears to your eyes. After Vanilla Ice Cream and The Great Gujarati Matrimony, Preetsinh Gohil has again done a commendable job as a writer and director. The film explores values beautifully and makes you laugh as well as cry. However, with a run-time of 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film does feel a bit stretched in the second half.

Naankhatai is a roller coaster of emotions and takes you on a much-needed ride. Dialogues like ‘Vaagya Upar Haldar Lagavi, Kadach Enej Prem Kehvato Hase’ will tug at your heartstrings. Naankhatai is a slow-burn that consumes you bit by bit. Strong performances by each actor make it a watch worth your time.