I have a headache and Morning Walk is probably to be blamed!

I spent quite a bomb on my ticket but I didn't get my money's worth. The Red Lounge at Cinemax was half full with middle-aged couples and aunties.

Youngsters have the better sense not to see this film which is aimed at the middle-aged group.

The story revolves around Anupam Kher who comes to Mumbai from Kolkata to stay with his son's family. Rajit Kapoor plays his loving son, Divya Dutta is his opportunistic wife and Avika Gor is his adorable daughter. Divya wants a place of their own and Anupam agress to buy it for them. So she treats him well. Sharmila Tagore stays a few blocks away. She happens to be Anupam's old flame. Nargis plays her daughter who wants to study in the US. Shayan Munshi is her struggling-singer boyfriend. Anupam Kher befriends Sharmila again and comes across a truth which forces him to choose between his son and the love of his life.

Divya Dutta is a good actress. However, her constant and unnecessary cleavage display and loud make up is jarring. Her husband doesn't like her wearing fitting tees in front of his father but she wears a strappy dress during their picnic. Their house is beautiful but she still cries for a house of their own. She won't settle for anything but a bungalow (who buys bungalows in Mumbai?) Whatever happened to good old flats? Can't they buy an apartment on EMI? The family chews on white bread (apparently it's low cal) sandwiches for breakfast. Since when did white bread become low cal? Too funny!

The last scene where Divya Dutta gets drunk and confronts Kher is such a drag. It's one of the most stretched climax I have seen in recent times, goes back to the old days when films were irritatingly melodramatic and preachy towards the end to serve as some sort of a closure to the proceedings. Subtlety can be so ignored in these clumsy middle-of-the-road films which don't know where they want to head between parallel and commercial cinema and end up being a jarring middling exercise in film making.

Anupam Kher is effortless. His act of a loving grandfather is endearing. He turns in a restrained performance. Sharmila Tagore is ever-so-charming and beautiful. She lights up the screen with her calm presence. That dimpled smile is to-die-for.

Avika Gor is very cute. She holds her own against stalwart Kher. The scenes depicting their guileless and loving bond are the best.

Nargis has nice hair but why does the length keep changing drastically? She looks like Anjana Sukhani and Hansika Motwani and is bubbly enough for the part. Not a good dancer though. Shayan is a good dancer and very likeable. But this isn't his comeback with a bang. He falls in the Purab Kohli I-am-in-this-film-too bracket.

The songs are nothing great and one-too-many! You yawn every time a song starts.

The movie asks an important question: Does love have anything to do with age?

It isn't clear who the movie is made for. It does show the sacrifices parents make for their children but it doesn't have any sticky content for the youth. Is it aimed at the older group, asking them to wake up and do what they like, irrespective of what everyone says?

All in all, it's a serious and boring movie. Get up early and go for a morning walk, instead.

Janhvi Patel/Hill Road Media