The Marathi movie Fussclass Dabhade begins like a Bollywood film – with a song celebrating a pre-wedding ceremony. Turmeric-faced dancers in co-ordinated costumes move about in neat formations. The family members look ecstatic to be together in the same space for such a momentous occasion.
But they don’t belong to a traditional Bollywood clan. They aren’t the Chaturvedis from Hum Saath Saath Hain or the Raichands from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. They are the Dabhades.
They are closer to the Twists from the Malayalam movie Home. They like to argue. To pick on old wounds and inflict new ones. Nothing lightens the mood better than a loudly aired barb or an embarrassing revelation.
Fussclass Dabhade is forever chasing the darkness that follows the rainbow. Although overstuffed, tonally all over the place at times and ultimately conventional, Hemant Dhome’s movie also acutely explores a family dynamic that feels familiar – sometimes uncomfortably so.
The bittersweet film kicks off with the Prashant-Komal wedding. Both are bashful virgins who have no clue how to consummate their union. The film’s comedy is sometimes frenetically paced. But in the sequences of Prashant (Amey Wagh) and Komal (Rajshri Bhave) in their bedroom, alone at last as well as terrified in each other’s company, the movie slows down for brilliantly observed birds-and-bees encounters.
Prashant is the deep-dimpled baby of the family – and the runt of the litter, as far as his sister Jayu (Kshitee Jog) and brother Kiran (Siddharth Chandekar) are concerned. Kiran is staggering about like Kabir Singh after a break-up, in no mood to forgive or forget and with every intention of infecting others with his crabbiness.
Jayu is peevish too. Her attempt to have a baby with her adoring husband Sachin (Harish Dudhade) through IVF treatment has left her tetchy and defensive. Jayu is forever being reminded of her childlessness, particularly by her nosy aunt (Usha Nadkarni).
Their mother Sulochana (Nivedita Saraf) tries to keep the truculent trio together through goodwill and prayer. Unresolved tensions come to a boil during and after the wedding and then spill out into the open, scalding nearly everybody.
Dhome’s screenplay gushes out of him in spurts and then bursts, sometimes with no control over the direction of the flow. The device of using humour to defuse a tense situation doesn’t always work.
A superb joke lands too fast after a poignant moment or a sharp attack on ossified traditions. Komal’s flirtatious friend Manju (Trupti Shedge) is hilarious at first but the gag wears out its welcome.
The comedy is scaffolding for the damage shouldered by the siblings. As they work through their problems, Dhome slips in progressive thoughts that recast as well as uphold the meaning of a family in contemporary times.
The latter half of the 156-minute film unabashedly pricks the tear ducts. Like Baipan Bhari Deva (2023) – which in turn was influenced by Dhome’s Jhimma (2021) – Fussclass Dabhade believes that it’s perfectly possible to let go but also hold on. Is it, really?
Should a joint family hang around together at all times? Personal space isn’t one of the flags flown by a mostly absorbing and charming film. Some of the plot developments seem more like wish fulfilment than the organic result of a change of heart.
Yet, Dhome is in full control of the whole caboodle. He directs his ensemble cast superbly, with standout performances by Siddharth Chandekar, Kshitee Jog, Amey Wagh, Harish Dudhade and Rajshri Bhave.
The Dabhades say many hurtful and wise things to each other. There is room for quieter moments too. Kalabai Nakti, the delightful actor who plays the grandmother, expresses herself entirely through gestures and expressions – the cherry on the top of a multi-tiered cake that sags but never collapses.
Also read:
How ‘Fussclass Dabhade’ director Hemant Dhome hopes to woo Marathi viewers: ‘Funny and relatable’
