Helicopter Eela Movie Review: A Decent Watch This Weekend

90s Indipop was like ecstasy to most of the adults of today. The songs of that era would mostly put the Bollywood songs of today to shame. Most of those chartbusters from artists like Daler Mehndi, Alisha Chinai, Falguni Pathak, Pankaj Udhas and Aryans would frequently lighten up our moods most of the time and they are loved by millions even now, thanks to the internet. Helicopter Eela takes you on a joyride from the golden 90s which most of us listened then and now.

The film revolves around Eela Raiturkar (Kajol), a once-famous popstar of the 90s to a single mother to a 20-something Vivaan (Riddhi Sen) now deciding to complete her leftover education. As fate has it, she is enrolled in the same class where her son studies, which invites unwanted attention from his classmates. The same goes at home when his mother starts invading his privacy by peeking into his phone or sniffing for cigarette and liquor odour when he is sleeping. This one gives you a brain drain when conflicts take place between them and he leaves the home in a huff. There is a backstory of her possessiveness revealed in the film which showed that she was dating Arun (Tota Roy Chaudhary) during her college days and they did get married as well. But he had left them all of a sudden, which made her and his son fend for themselves.

Director Pradeep Sarkar has come back to directing this film after four years since his critically-acclaimed crime thriller Mardaani. The film is inspired by a Gujarati play called Beta Kaagdo which did not have a lot of OTT melodrama as this one.

The cameos in the film consist of prominent 90s pop artists like Annu Malik, Ila Arun, Shaan and Mahesh Bhatt playing themselves in the film. They are given their own space during the film. Neha Dhupia excels in playing a supporting role of a drama teacher who becomes friends with Kajol in college.

Kajol is the only saving grace of the film and Riddhi Sen also manages to keep the audience hooked with his performance in the film. Their acting capabilities are wasted in this flawed flick.

Amit Trivedi's music in the film seems to be a situational type and the rehash version of Ruk Ruk Ruk has lost its original credibility too. The only saving grace was the famous Paree Hoon Main from Sunita Rao playing in the radio at the beginning of the film.

Overall, the film is a decent watch to lighten up your boring weekend.