‘Sharmaji Namkeen’ Is A Reminder Of How Society Enjoys Taking Decisions For Women & Ageing Parents

Taniya Firoz Khan

Our society is notorious for categorising people. It doesn’t invest much effort into it, though. It has lethargically designed only two broad categories of humans: relevant and irrelevant. Now, who falls where?

Well typically, if you are employed, zestful, and have the prestigious XY chromosomes, then you are socially relevant. And, God forbid, if you are a retired individual or a woman or both, then you fall into the latter.

Hitesh Bhatia-directorial Sharmaji Namkeen unified a 58-year-old retired old man with a bunch of merry women at a kitty party. At the outset, he’s a misfit in the group, until we realise that they are fundamentally the same.

The women who superficially look happy-go-lucky boss ladies aren’t the champions of their own lives. Their dreams were also crushed by the ‘relevant’ people who feel entitled to dictate to the other half, step by step, how to live life.

These kitty parties were their haven where they could live their lives however they pleased. Here, they feel liberated as they do not need to seek permission. Because oh, did the men of their lives bother to listen to them, let alone take permission?

Sharmaji too was on the other end of the same string that tied their stories together. His life was also hijacked by more important people; in this case, his elder son, who was a metaphorical avatar of society. 

Above all, the choices of an irrelevant old man necessitate a green signal from society, right? 

Yes, once you are deemed ‘of no use’ by society, it begins to seek pleasure in assigning you ‘respectable’ roles, although you are a madhouse of ideas yourself. 

You are robbed of the right to decide for yourself. A manual of instructions is handed to you, which also tells you when and when not to ‘chill’.

I don’t know how difficult it is to understand that dreams and wishes do not come with an expiry date and need not be ‘allowed’ by anyone.

Playfully though, Sharmaji Namkeen deliberately flashed certain circumstances that made us go deep into the memory vault because, at some point or another, we all have derived access to the ‘decision making’ section of someone’s existence.

All images are screen grabs from the movie. 
You can watch Sharmaji Namkeen on Amazon Prime Video

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