Outhouse review: A heartwarming story that reminds you to keep your inner child alive!

Starring Dr. Mohan Agashe and marking the comeback of the legendary Sharmila Tagore after 14 years, Outhouse is a slice-of-life film about elderly singles!

Outhouse review: In an era where big budget films go above and beyond to make a larger than life world and still don’t manage to make a connection with the audience, Outhouse is a sweet and simple film that proves a genuine story is all that matters. Produced by Dr. Mohan Agashe and directed by Sunil Sukthankar, this film is all about opening doors to new people or pets sometimes.

Adima Roy Pathak (Sharmila Tagore), a graphic novel designer lives by herself in a beautiful house in Pune. A few blocks away lives Nana Modak (Dr. Mohan Agashe), who loves his detective novels and movies. His son visits him from Mumbai from time to time. Adima and Nana cross paths with each other when Adima’s grandson loses his puppy, Pablo, who eventually seeks refuge with Nana and becomes his friend. The love for Pablo begins a ‘catch me if you can’ kind of a situation between the two houses.

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Seeing Sharmila Tagore on the big screen after years was delightful in itself, but seeing her as a graphic designer was a whole different vibe which I loved. Adima was too cool to be true; she designed comic book characters that we mostly see the younger generation geek over in films. All of us have an aajoba (grandfather) like Nana Modak. He gets annoyed at the smallest inconvenience, he loves his walks, he pretends to be all tough when truly he turned into a softie when he saw Pablo. It was amusing to see how both, Adima and Nana, had an adversion to Pablo and how eventually they got rather attached to him. 

Sonali Kulkarni who plays Adima’s daughter in the film, made me feel seen and also guilty mainly because she is always at loggerheads with her mother. Always back answering, every word from her mother feels like a taunt to her and hence she gets annoyed every two seconds. This was ironic coming from her because she was attending a conference on non-violent communication. I felt called out every time she was on-screen but she also made me introspect on my behaviour with my mom and how I need to do better. Through her character, the film also sheds light on the struggles of co-parenting when you’re separated. But she also makes you believe in second chances. Jeehan Hodar as Neel, Adhima’s grandson who stays with her for a few days, is as adorable as one can get. He teaches the adults in his life to bring out their inner child and his dadi being the sport that she is, agrees to play spy with him.

Every time Sharmila ji delivered her dialogues, it felt as if someone was narrating a sweet poem to me. Her voice and her looks can have that effect on people. Just like Adima’s graphic novel, Outhouse too has comic book-like graphics throughout the film. It gave me that nostalgic feeling when I watched cartoons as a kid post coming home from school. This film might not be the quintessential Bollywood entertainer that one watches over the weekend but it's something that asks you to find meaning in daily life. It asks you to make the most of your current situation and just be grateful to find people you can count on along the way. And solely for that, Outhouse will be a film that lingered on my mind post credits.

Outhouse is currently playing at theater near you!