Secret Superstar : Serious yet funny, tacky yet endearing

Well I am not a music aficionado to tell you whether the title track of the movie. ‘Main Kaun Hun’ is a good song or not, but one thing is sure that the song is hammered so much throughout the movie, as a song, as a background score, at the end credits, that it makes a place in your mind as you leave the theater. With the only one featured song, already heard countless times in trailers, radio, tv and you tube, and with a story line which is almost predictable the moment you see the trailer, the movie has no surprises in it, nothing wow or twists in the plot, the movie relies entirely on execution, on characters, acting, to make a mark.
And to a great degree it is successful in making that mark. The characters are really well rounded of and true to their nature. The story is quite serious and in line with the times about female exploitation, infanticide and patriarchal nature of society, as the mother daughter duo try to navigate their boundaries and explore their freedom, dreams and the kind of abuse they face from the father in the movie.
In a way it is a serious topic and very dark, however the movie does not end up being dark, as every dark scene, is immediately followed by a ray of hope in the next scene, like when her laptop shatters after a beating session from her  father, she immediately gets the possibility of playback singing opportunity in the next scene. And this what I think is the trick of the movie, not getting very dark, just dipping into the turbulent waters and coming out on to the shore. This makes the 2hr 30min film feel short. The movie has a good pace, and something is happening all the time. Some logically minded people might find some things absurd, like the difficulties in the personal life of the lead character ‘Insiya’, are in complete contrast with the extreme ease of her professional ‘playback’ singing path, but again the relative lightness is necessary to keep the film on a good track
however, the real highlights of the film are it’s characters, like mentioned before the execution of characters, Insiya is amazing, but the movie has the aroma of some great nuances, like Guddu, the young brother is endearing to his core, the mother, the comic relief that the grand mother gives as a ghost when a horror movie is being watched, all add to the movie.
But there are two characters who steal the movie, one is that of Chintan, a super supply of humor, with the breeze of innocent love, friendship, somewhat clumsy, Chintan is a package deal for the movie. He conveys that teenage romance with great authenticity, and is a treat to watch, like the scene when he finds that the password is his name, he gives the expression of seventh heaven in a matter of milliseconds

and above all of the characters is one played by Aamir Khan, and particularly in two scenes he shows his brilliance, one is when is talking over the phone, and he alone manages to act for two people on both sides of phone, conveying the entire conversation even though we as audience are seeing only one, is just like Saif ali Khan’s phone conversation in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ . Aamir’s clothes, hair style, are just tacky and in line with his character
And there is a real quirk in the movie, in which Aamir’s lawyer says ‘I am proud of you’ to Aamir, and the way Aamir turns around with open arms and says “sweetheart…” is just amazing, and at this moment literally tears will roll out with uncontrollable laughter.
The ending is slight Hindi filmish, just like PK, but less preachy and the film ends, There are real messages in the film, like the father insisting on his daughters studies, not because he has big dreams for her, but because it is tool which will ease the path of her marriage, it truly holds a mirror to the society in many ways.
However with a balance of humor, the film the navigates the serious topics with skill. Overall three hours well spent..