Every year the sprawling Mandalia clan gathers in their ancestral village of Chorvad for Navratri, but three days before the festival the beloved patriarch Giju Kaka collapses and is put on a ventilator in an Ahmedabad hospital. As relatives arrive from the village, the United States and Bollywood, the crisis exposes old wounds, buried grudges and small vanities that the family would rather keep hidden. At the centre is Prashant, Giju Kaka's estranged son, who must confront a lifetime of misunderstanding with his father before it is too late.
Ventilator takes a proven story, the National Award winning Marathi film of the same name by Rajesh Mapuskar, and gives it a fully Gujarati skin. Umang Vyas directs a large ensemble that turns a hospital corridor into a stage for an entire joint family, its festival plans, its politics and its unspoken resentments. The premise is simple, a patriarch on life support days before Navratri, but the film uses that single fixed point to let dozens of characters reveal who they really are when a death would be inconvenient.
The draw here is casting. Ventilator marks Jackie Shroff's Gujarati debut, and he plays the movie star cousin Jaggu with an easy warmth that anchors the chaos around him. Pratik Gandhi, a few years before Scam 1992 made him a national name, carries the emotional load as Prashant, the son who believes his father never loved him, and his slow thaw is the spine the film hangs on. Around them Sanjay Goradia, Utkarsh Mazmudar, Suchita Trivedi and Mehul Buch keep the tone swinging between comedy and grief without letting either curdle.
The Times of India rated it four out of five and called it a perfect family film with the right dose of performances, emotions, laughter and cultural nuance, and that captures both the strength and the ceiling. This is a faithful remake rather than a reinvention, so viewers who know the Marathi original will find few surprises, and at a generous running length the middle sags as the film works through its crowded cast. Even so, the writing by Niren Bhatt and Karan Vyas keeps the Gujarati texture specific and lived in, and the closing reconciliation lands. As a tribute to fathers and to the messy warmth of an Indian family, it earns its emotion honestly.
Verdict
A warm, well acted Gujarati remake of an award winning film, lifted by Jackie Shroff's debut and Pratik Gandhi's emotional turn.
What works
- Jackie Shroff's assured Gujarati debut
- Pratik Gandhi grounds the emotional core
- Strong, deep ensemble cast
- Authentic Gujarati family texture and humour
What holds it back
- A faithful remake with few surprises
- Overlong middle stretch sags
- Crowded cast leaves some roles thin
- Predictable for anyone who saw the Marathi original
Cast & crew
Writers: Niren Bhatt, Karan Vyas
Music: Parth Bharat Thakkar
Cast: Jackie Shroff (Jagdish 'Jaggu' Mandalia), Pratik Gandhi (Prashant Mandalia), Sanjay Goradia (Jayu bhai), Utkarsh Mazmudar (Ambalal Mandalia), Suchita Trivedi (Deepti), Mehul Buch (Mukesh Mandalia), Juhi Chawla (Doctor (Cameo))
Producers: Falguni Patel, Lawrence D'Souza
Watch the trailer
Play the official trailer on YouTubeMore from Umang Vyas
More Comedy Gujarati films
Frequently asked
Is Ventilator worth watching?
A warm, well acted Gujarati remake of an award winning film, lifted by Jackie Shroff's debut and Pratik Gandhi's emotional turn. Kevu Che rates it 4 out of 5.
What is Ventilator about?
Every year the sprawling Mandalia clan gathers in their ancestral village of Chorvad for Navratri, but three days before the festival the beloved patriarch Giju Kaka collapses and is put on a ventilator in an Ahmedabad hospital. As relatives arrive from the village, the United States and Bollywood, the crisis exposes old wounds, buried grudges and small vanities that the family would rather keep hidden. At the centre is Prashant, Giju Kaka's estranged son, who must confront a lifetime of misunderstanding with his father before it is too late.