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First, the Recap:
Ok, admit it. NO ONE, or at least MOST people in SOME form, don’t wish to acknowledge their age once reaching a certain point in life. It is the longing to try and remain within a certain mindset so as to still picture being included amongst a certain demographic where we might still feel alive, vibrant, and quite honestly–accepted. Yet, what if that scenario actually occurred? WOULD you end up finding it as fulfilling as you believed? Thirty-nine-year-old “auntie” Hena (Vanita Kalra) discovers herself being in exactly this predicament while attending an already-awkward social function. Trying her best to be with the “in” crowd, the night turns out even more unexpected followed by a morning realizing she’s now a part of a Gen Z group text that quickly spirals out of control–and perhaps reminds Hena of one important fact about who she truly is.
Next, my Mind:
The unwavering, often overwhelming, potency of being in denial has a hilariously severe run-in with generational gaps and the longing to be included amongst those who we might not actually wish to be, but still WANT to be for our own sense of position in life through this highly abbreviated (only 7 minutes, folks!) but FULLY entertaining and WHOLLY hysterical short film from writer/director Fawzia Mirza, producer Jesy Odio, and executive producers Kesila Childers, Paul Feig, Laura Fischer, Erica Fishman, and Elle Roth-Brunet. Screened as part of my ongoing “in advance” coverage of the 2022 DFW SAFF (where the film ultimately grabbed Best Diaspora Short Film honors) sponsored by Toyota USA and hosted by Jingo Media Founder/Festival Director Jitin Hingorani and Artistic Director Ambica Dev, the film will shall relish its Texas Premier (1 of 3 projects for Mirza here!) at the event as part of the Women’s Shorts Film Block and I truly believe will be one assuredly eliciting constant laughter from the audience, and deservedly so!!
Visually and verbally expounding in intelligently concise, smartly written, and beautifully executed style a narrative that sees our late 30-something lead character haplessly (but OH SO comically for us!!) confronting a most playfully thorny and potentially humiliating set of circumstances at a get-together for others in her career field (networking opportunities will never be the same again!), the effort wastes no time in hurling us headlong into the fray, illuminating thematic trajectories that traverse our overt hang-up with aging, our equally driving need to “fit in”, looking for ways to connect when we’re in a new place, making every attempt to just be ourselves, and encountering, well, denial! But, what I even more adored about the story as it reaches its conclusion (have I mentioned after much hilarity?), it delivers a perfectly feasible while still totally laugh-inducing statement of confidently empowering affirmation in the finale that is one hundred percent relatable on multiple levels and leaves you with a hearty “You GO, girl!” mentality.
One could most definitively surmise this film is also an emphatic statement about the wonders and perils of this world’s obsessions with social media and the slippery slope it truly is to become immersed in what everyone is putting out there, even amongst friends, as in SO many ways, it can go WAY too far. But here, it’s utilized as a vehicle to share the humorous shenanigans conveyed rather than become any form of intended soapbox to laud or berate the medium that connects our modern world. This critic was actually quite thankful for that, because if there’s ONE thing we should be taking away from this splendid piece of jocularity is that, through it all, we need to embrace WHO we are, be undisputedly confident in that, be willing to step out IN said convictions, and win people over through sincere integrity rather than feel we have to put on facades to be accepted. Now, this is frequently more difficult to DO than to say, but the payoff will be WORTH it, as this film so adeptly displays, even if in a most uproarious manner and fashion.
To say Kalra owns the screen and chews scenery every moment she’s on it would, in this critic’s humble opinion, be a wholehearted understatement, as she DOMINATES the film with excellent bearing, SPOT ON comedic timing, and perfect body language/facial expressions that communicate every ounce of “pain”, confusion, surprise, and a multitude of other emotional states through her role here as Hena. A newcomer to town and just wishing to connect with fellow legal folks while job hunting, Hena’s experience at the gathering she attends turns most into a complete farce while having to deal with hyper shallow or basically “not all there” people, at least until she manages to “get in” with a small cadre of Gen Z-ers. The following morning yields even larger moments of bewilderment and self-critical assessment until one choice changes her whole perspective. Watching Kalra guide the character through this cacophony of chaos is a complete riot, superbly entertaining, and a total ode to the style of physical comedy I personally LOVE so much!
BUT, let us not remotely put aside the equally mirthful group of supporting cast that makes the film bounce along with engagingly witty pace and interactions with Hena’s character including Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier as Kiran, a 40-something “auntie” who more than seems to have a jaded attitude about almost everything in general, Mona Sishodia as the Auntie Who Acts, attending the function that she seems out of place at given her overall laments about the industry she’s been a part of, Pavia Sidhu as an overly (but amusingly so) plucky young woman who’s more than happy to bring both a privileged and valley girl demeanor to the events, Fizaa Dosani, Natasha Behnam, and Nare Israelyan as Kausar, Sitara, and Fran respectively, the three Gen Z-ers Hena ends up hanging with, and finally D’Lo makes an appearance as a local lawyer chatting away on his phone–doing business most likely–at a party. Really?? HA! All have wonderfully effective comic timing as well and fit into their roles to a “T”.
So, in total, “Auntie” is a breath of fantastically funny fresh air that, even in spite of the silliness occurring, actually manages to speak, strangely enough, rather eloquently about the human need to feel a part of it all in life’s arenas we attempt to inhabit or maintain while we face the inevitability of aging. It’s more than ok to associate with people outside our own “demographic” but likewise, and more often than not, it’s just best to stay in our own lane and simply OWN it by just being US instead of who we THINK we may want to be.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
