Hindi
‘Piku’: Joyride
MUMBAI: Juhi Chatruvedi came up with the idea of a sperm donor in Vicky Donor in 2012. One of the things never discussed on an open forum. The film hit the bull’s eye. This time again in Piku, she has come up with a theme, which deals with a problem millions of people suffer from but never discuss in the open: constipation.
To Juhi’s credit, like she did in Vicky Donor, here too she makes the story an all-encompassing one. The kind of films, say, Hrishikesh Mukherjee would make. Weaving around the story of a hypochondriac, it adds the aspects of romance, family ties et al in a subtle manner while not making the film a one track toilet humour; she soon converts it into a road movie that leads to a traditional family and roots ending.
Amitabh Bachchan, the 70 year old homebound widower, suffers from chronic constipation but, being a hypochondriac, he imagines all other illnesses possible. Albeit, his illnesses are all psychosomatic, like if his temperature moves from 98.4 to 98.8, he feigns illness.
Bachchan is the kind who is disappointed if his blood tests reports or BP are normal. Deepika is his only daughter too much in love with her father and tolerates all his idiocies. She complies with all his whims of being a hypochondriac though she knows there is nothing wrong with him. Taking his temperature, taking his blood pressure and preparing his medical doses from hundreds of pills he has gathered.
Deepika hates Bachchan’s ways but also complies with them. Bachchan’s constipation updates are bizarre, and he even sends her updates about it through her office receptionist, which is read out in an important client meeting.
Just when you think you have had enough of the toilet humour, thankfully, the film changes track and becomes a road movie.
Irrfan, a qualified engineer, runs his dead father’s private cab service since he was sacked from his job in the Middle East. His company regularly caters to Deepika, dropping her to office every morning and getting her home again. She is as finicky as her father, Bachchan, and no driver from Irrfan’s company wants to ferry her. They do it reluctantly, though.
Bachchan has this lucrative offer to sell his huge house in Kolkata, which he is reluctant to sell while Deepika thinks it is time they got rid of it. Bachchan decides to travel to Kolkata to take a final call on the matter. The palatial villa is occupied by Bachchan’s brother and sister in law, who are insecure fearing the villa will be sold. Bachchan has his own peculiar reasons for not travelling by air or train.
A vehicle is booked with Irrfan’s company but no driver is willing to drive Deepika for such a long journey. Eventually, Irrfan has to drive them and this drive is a fun ride for the audience. This is where the film takes a detour from toilet humour and road show and introduces a bit of family and traditions.
Bachchan was never in favour of selling his ancestral home while Deepika was. There a is a third influence as dumb sounding cab driver who, they learn is the owner of the fleet. It turns out he is not dumb but very clever and logical. His suggestions help Bachchan and Deepika change their way of thinking. Thanks to him, even Deepika is convinced that the ancestral property should not be sold.
Bachchan’s one ultimate aim in life is to get rid of his constipation before he dies. But, before that, he also wants to live a normal life. Towards this end, one fine day, he borrows the house help’s bicycle and goes on a 25 km ride through Kolkata and gorges on street food. With that, he also comes out of his psychosomatic cocoon and realises his wish of a clear stomach for once!
The side track is about Irrfan and Deepika’s chemistry. Hard as she tries not to get impressed with his native intelligence, eventually, she does develop a soft corner for him.
This is a very clever and balanced script which is thoroughly enjoyable. Shoojit Sircar, who also directed Vicky Donor, from Juhi’s script, does a neat job once again with Piku. Dialogues are quirky at times to blend with Bachchan’s character and generally witty. Music is functional. Cinematography is pleasing. Editing is crisp. The film is all about performances and all three, Bachchan, Irrfan and Deepika excel. Maoushumi Chatterjee in a brief role is as lively as ever. Raguveer Yadav is good.
Piku is an entertainer all the way and despite the tepid opening response, it should pick up over the weekend.
Producers: N P Singh, Ronnie Lahiri, Sneha Rajani
Director: Shoojit Sircar
Cast:Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan, Moushumi Chatterjee, Raghuveer Yadav, Jishu Sengupta
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
