You can order mixer-grinders and toasters online. Why not a dad? In Trial Period, a fatherless boy’s query complicates the lives of his single mother and the man hired to be his daddy.
Divorcee Ana (Genelia Deshmukh) has been doing a fine job of raising her son Romi (Zidane Braz). Yet, Romi feels the absence of a father, especially after being bullied at school. Unable to resist the deep-dimpled boy’s entreaties, Ana brings in Prajapati (Manav Kaul) as a stand-in.
The Hindi-language Trial Period, based on a story by Aleya Sen and a screenplay by her, Kunwar Shiv Singh and Akshat Trivedi, has been released on the JioCinema streaming platform. Sen adeptly directs her excellently chosen cast, creates several fuzzy moments, and smoothly navigates past patches of shallow writing and the looming threat of preachiness.
It’s no surprise that Prajapati endears himself to Romi rather than dissuading him, as Ana had hoped. Prajapati is well-mannered, an excellent cook and a closet romantic.
A story that begins as a comedy about an unorthodox parenting adventure gets stronger when it considers the consequences of the arrangement on the grown-ups. If Ana is an urbane Bengali whose Hindi speech is flecked with English, Prajapati is a virtuous advocate of pure Hindi and old-fashioned in his approach to life.
The ease with which Romi takes to Prajapati raises questions about Ana’s parenting skills that the film has neither set up nor is in a position to answer. Indeed, Ana gets a little lecture from Prajapati on how to be a better mother. The film strays in the direction of mild moralising at times but swiftly rushes back to devising ways for Ana’s “Good morning” to co-exist with Prajapati’s “Suprabhat”.
The conceit is helped to no end by the palpable chemistry between the leads. Manav Kaul and Genelia Deshmukh turn out lovely performances, either as a make-believe couple or as individuals trying to do what is best for Romi.
The boy is played by Zidane Braz with a mix of cloying cuteness and endearing innocence. Further warmth is supplied by Shakti Kapoor and Sheeba Chadha as Ana’s helpful, broad-minded neighbours.