Outhouse movie review: Sharmila Tagore’s small film aspires for a big heart

Adima (Sharmila Tagore) is a talented illustrator, who is taking care of her grandson Neel (Jihan Hodar) as her daughter and son-in-law are away on their respective professional assignments. Things go awry when Neel’s pet dog Pablo goes missing. Pablo follows Nana (Mohan Agashe) to his home and eventually makes himself comfortable there. Meanwhile, Adima and Neel decide to play detectives and go looking for Pablo. Nana, a crabby detective story-loving man, takes a liking to the dog and doesn’t want to part with him.

While the basic premise of Outhouse is cute, it is too stagy to be entertaining. As Adima, Tagore is convincing when she is dealing with her publishers or sorting out issues with her daughter. But playing detective with her grandson and sneaking into other’s flat does not seem like her cup of tea. Agashe, who has also produced the film, lends some drama to the proceedings as an ill-tempered man with a beating heart.

The comedy, however, never fully explores the issues of the senior citizens or the family dynamics they have to navigate. Or, that of a young boy, who teams up with his grandmother for a fun mission and ends up growing up a bit in the end.

Outhouse
Director: Sunil Sukhtankar
Cast: Sharmila Tagore, Mohan Agashe, Sonali Kulkarni, Neeraj Kabi and Jihan Hodar
Rating: Two stars