It’s a world where the market isn’t in great shape. And so, “Saas Bahu Aur Sensex” may provide some good-old-those-were-the-days nostalgia for those who get the stock market.

There's a little bit of saas bahu bickering and a little bit of sensex understanding, but more of a love triangle. In short, the movie has nothing to do with Saas, Bahu or Sensex. That out of the way, you focus on director Shona Urvashi's sister Masumeh, giving shot's in 'one take' with that of Tanushree Duttas '20'.

It’s a well packaged film – as virtually all Indian films nowadays are – and in the perfectly colour coordinated world of Modern Colony.

At the Jetmalani family wedding, we get a quick look of the various migrant families that have made Mumbai residence. The Sikh, the Tamil, the Sindhi, the Bengali, the Muslim, the Parsi and so on. It’s a pretty picture that is well in sync with the India Shining story.

Ritesh Jetmalani (Ankur Khanna) works at a call centre and helps Nitya Sen (Tanushree Dutta) and her mother Binita Sen (Kirron Kher) settle into their new home in the colony. He also helps Nitya secure a job at the call centre, where various other members of the colony’s families seem to be employed.

The Sens have relocated from Kolkata after the parents divorced and both women work on finding jobs and working out their own mother-daughter friction. As Nitya learns how to sort out her Yankee twang, Binita teaches nursery children at a school recommended to her by Feroze Sethna (Farooque Shaikh), who also teaches her the nuances of the stock market.

Fluctuating between the rising Sensex, soap operas and kitty parties that include Anita Jetmalani (Lilette Dubey) and other members of the colony, the film also plays out the narrative of a love triangle involving Nitya, Ritesh and Keerti (Masumeh Makhija).

Jilted at the altar by Keerti, who prefers money over man, Ritesh and Nitya’s love track is set right towards the end.

The backdrop of “Saas Bahu Aur Sensex” is fresh. It’s set in a large township colony and is a squeaky clean and simplistic look at the world of call centres, kitty parties and stock markets. The narratives are basic, the plots are expected and the music is okay.

“Saas Bahu Aur Sensex” is enjoyable on the eye as it has a soothing artistic look to it and nothing about it is over the top. It shows us one of the many faces of India today. So we’re spared the poverty and the realities of the social complications that curse the country.

Its message is clear. While it champions female empowerment it also cautions against greed when investing.

And of course, with a stellar cast of theatre players, there is little to say about the performances. Farooque Shaikh is delightful as the stockbroker lacking a female presence in his life. Kirron Kher is as graceful in the role of divorced woman and single mother as is her perfectly put together wardrobe. Lilette Dubey charms her way through the character of a loving mother and wife of a Sindhi man.

The younger actors – Tanushree Dutta, Ankur Khanna and Masumeh – all impress greatly with their composed performances.

“Saas Bahu Aur Sensex” fails in the engrossment quotient. As a film it may have worked a couple of years ago, when India’s Sensex was really booming and call centres were all the rage. Today’s India though is different from the India in the film but as is the case with most Indian movies it means well, but is ill timed.

As a narrative and plot it’s far from gripping and has many a meandering moment. Fortunately though it’s not a preachy movie. As a film it holds little crowd appeal even among the urban elite. Overall, it is average film.