Film

Rajma Chawal

Name: Rajma Chawal
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family
Released: 2018
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Anirudh Tanwar, Amyra Dastur, Nirmal Rishi, Aparshakti Khurana

Family drama

A widowed Punjabi father discovers social media to reconnect with his distant son, learning to navigate Instagram and smartphones while his son learns what it means to be loved again. It's a gentle, funny film about generational gaps, modern loneliness, and the ways we reach for each other. For anyone who's ever felt the gap between how they communicate and how their parents do.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy gentle comedy that treats a stubborn father's fumbling attempts to reach across a generation gap as both funny and quietly moving.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting or sharp edges, since it moves at an unhurried pace and its humour leans sentimental rather than biting.

What it asks of you: Its two hours and nine minutes are unhurried, mostly light in tone, and they reward patience more than close attention; it settles in slowly before the warmth arrives.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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Piku2015

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Dum Laga Ke Haisha2015

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Rajma Chawal

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Nebraska2013

Both films trust that a father and son learning to understand each other is enough story. Both find comedy in the gap between how older men think and how younger men live.

Alexander Payne's sparse, black-and-white film about an elderly man and his son driving across America. It's quiet, funny, and achingly true about how little communication happens between generations, and how much love can exist in silence.

But Defiantly grey and slow, set in mundane American landscapes, with no music and very few big emotional scenes. It won't move you if you need to feel something obvious.

English Vinglish2012

Gauri Shinde's warm story of a woman finding herself through an English course in New York. Sridevi is luminous, and the film celebrates quiet determination without needing melodrama or grand gestures.

But The pacing is deliberately slow; if you need plot momentum, this will test your patience. Some scenes feel overly saccharine.

Khosla Ka Ghosla!2006

A middle-class Delhi family bands together to fight a property dispute, and the comedy comes from real family dynamics rather than slapstick. It's clever, affectionate, and genuinely funny about how families operate.

But The print quality on streaming is often poor. Dated references may not land if you're not familiar with 2000s Delhi.

Rang De Basanti2006

A group of friends discover activism and social responsibility through a documentary project. It's energetic, funny, and makes you believe in idealism again. Aamir Khan and the ensemble cast are entirely winning.

But The tonal shift in the final act into darker territory alienates some viewers. It's very long and occasionally manipulative.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham2001

A sweeping family saga about estrangement and reconciliation, with gorgeous production design and an excellent cast. It's unabashedly emotional and has genuine stakes beneath the glamour.

But Three and a half hours long, heavily manipulative, and the gender politics are dated. You have to surrender to its melodrama completely.

Like Stars on Earth2007

Aamir Khan plays a teacher who recognizes a struggling student's dyslexia and helps him find his worth. It's genuinely moving about how quickly we dismiss children who don't fit the mould.

But Heavy-handed at times and relies on the saviour teacher trope. The third act becomes saccharine.

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan2020

A comedy about a gay couple navigating family acceptance that's funny, unafraid, and genuinely progressive. Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar have real chemistry, and the film trusts its audience to laugh with it.

But Some progressive viewers find it still too cautious; others find the comedy tone inappropriate for the subject matter. Pacing wavers in the middle.

Petite Maman2021

Both films refuse the typical parent-child story where one teaches the other. Instead they ask what happens when you meet your parent as a full person, not just a role.

Céline Sciamma's magical-realist film where a girl encounters her mother as a child in a forest. Wordless in parts, visually stunning, it explores how we inherit our parents' pain and how love crosses time. Utterly unique.

But French, deeply symbolic, moves at its own pace with almost no plot. The magical realism is subtle and won't satisfy those needing straightforward narrative.

When Harry Met Sally...1989

Both films locate their emotional truth in awkwardness and misunderstanding—in how hard it is to say what you actually feel. Both find humour in that gap without letting it become cruelty.

Rob Reiner's perfect romantic comedy about two people figuring out what they mean to each other. It's structurally brilliant, funny without trying, and has genuine affection for its characters' small vulnerabilities.

But 1980s New York, heavy on the couple's journey toward romance, which some find conventional. The fake orgasm scene has been parodied to death.