Trial Period Movie Review: I believe that there is a Shah Rukh Khan fan in everyone, even if they don't show it. I could also sense this in Trial Period, this week's JioCinema offering, when I remembered Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, in a scene where a young boy is asked to give a speech on fathers and he couldn't because he has an absent father. There is another scene where the lead couple feel the stirrings of attraction for each other when the man is taking the woman's measurements, which reminded me of the lovely dhoti-dressing sequence in Swades. Trial Period: Genelia D'Souza Shares How Her Real Life Motherhood Experience Helped Her Ace Role of Mom.

The aforementioned young boy is Romy (Zidane Braz), who is the only son of a single parent, Anna (Genelia D'Souza). They live in a nice colony in Delhi, next to her amiable uncle and aunt (played by Shakti Kapoor and Sheeba Chaddha). Romy insists that he wants a father, and inspired by TV commercials, he suggests hiring one for a "trial period". Harassed by his persistent demands, Anna looks for someone trustworthy to live with them for a month and make the boy hate him so much that he stops demanding a father. Well, no one in this world heard of child-counsellors.

Enter Prajapathi Dwivedi, aka PD (Manav Kaul), a teacher looking for a job who comes to the city to stay with his uncle (Gajraj Rao). He becomes the likely candidate for Anna and Romy's trial period father, and well, how that turns out is anyone's guess.

Watch the Trailer of Trial Period:

Trial Period is like a sweet piece of candy that looks delicious and you enjoy it for a while, but then you get tired of it and want to move on to something else. The film has its moments of charm, especially in the first half, when PD gets closer to Romy and becomes a father figure to him (while forgetting his actual purpose there). Manav Kaul is wonderful to watch as the naive, well-meaning PD. He also has good chemistry with Genelia D'Souza, who is very likeable and charming, although her performance felt a little off during the emotional scenes. Zidane Braz gives a delightful performance as the impish Romy. Trial Period breezes along for a while thanks to these actors, but then the predictable plot kicks in and the film doesn't do much after that. Bawaal Movie Review: Varun Dhawan and Jahnvi Kapoor Take You Through a Tedious European Tour in This Nitesh Tiwari Film.

For example, when PD and Anna begin to have feelings for each other, the movie doesn't stir around on that development, and before we know it, there are proposals of love that cause minor plot conveniences which are easily solved by the end. There is also the fact that Trial Period undermines Anna's struggles as a single mother. Yes, it acknowledges her difficulties, but it never values how she is great at balancing everything. Anna tells her son that his father left them because he was obsessed with work, and then it is hinted that she doesn't have time to talk to her son by the stranger she had brought in. Why, she is shown to be so incompetent that she is oblivious of her son being bullied at school and even fails to notice him getting all the injuries from his bullies.

As for PD, I'm sorry to bring my Malayali roots into this, but he reminded me of Jayasurya in Janapriyan, a migrant from the villages who doesn't like to outsource tasks to others, wanting to do everything by himself, including trying to repair the washbasin at his uncle's office, and telling people how to do things. He may look genial, but PD surely becomes a caricature as the film progresses. PD even acts like a real grouch when Anna tells him that she only sees him as a friend. Thankfully for him, like everything in the movie, the mansplainer is always right and he gets a happy ending.

Final Thoughts

Trial Period has moments where it comes across as a heartwarming story of two strangers becoming family under extraordinary circumstances. Manav Kaul is particularly endearing. But the film loses its charm thanks to a very predictable storyline, a rushed relationship development and a flawed look at single parenting. Trial Period is streaming on JioCinema.

Rating:2.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 21, 2023 08:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).