Vidyadhar and Sumitra Patwardhan (Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore) are a middle-class couple in their 60s whose only source of sustenance is their son Amar (John Abraham). When he is killed in a freak incident, the family fabric is ripped apart.

?It?s refreshing to watch Amitabh play a character, for a change, and not the superhero. As the frail, joyfully henpecked husband and then the doting dad, the man is a treat to watch. The scene where he cries, trying to laugh at the laughing club, just proves how he?s wasted doing those clenched-teeth routines in other films.

?Sharmila can have a say on the cuts but she should definitely take up more assignments on screen. A complete natural, her chemistry with Amitabh is what makes the film so watchable.

?Director Mahesh Manjrekar deserves full marks for packaging such a serious theme commercially. His Vaastav and Astitva were better, but niche films. Viruddh is for everyone.

?Incessant in-film advertising of everything from Elf oil to Nerolac paints makes you wonder whether you are in an extended commercial break during a cricket match. Take this: When Bachchan is being arrested, he insists that his wife must have Sandoz calcium!

?The climax is an absolute letdown, throwing the legal system out of the window. It is sheer wish-fulfilment at work and doesn?t gel with the real feel of the narrative.

?The pacing is very slow, the neighbourhood sub-plots jar, and there?s too little of Sanjay Dutt (the credits promised a ?dynamic appearance?).

don?t miss: Bipasha Basu walking past in the foreground in the scene where John romances Anusha.

First weekend watch: 90 % at INOX (Forum), 82% at INOX (City Centre), 78 % at 89 Cinemas (Swabhumi)

Last word: A welcome change from the item numbers and dhishum-dhishum. Definitely worth a dekho.