Most of the reviews here are by Indians or people of Indian descent and, since the film was made for an Indian audience, maybe you should look to them for a more informed opinion. There aren't many reviews though, so here's one European perspective. The review is full of spoilers throughout.
It's a film of two halves. The first, actually well over half the running time, is fine – the story of a father obsessed with having a male heir, a continuing problem in many parts of the world, and the difficulties that arise when he insists his fourth daughter is a boy. Others have commented more knowledgeably on this aspect. The script (in my case via subtitles) is well-written, it doesn't exactly rush along but I didn't feel it was too slow, the settings are atmospheric and the direction competent. I did have a problem with some of the acting though.
It's not just an India-UK thing. I've watched a few Indian films recently with women in traditionally male roles, such as 'Mary Kom' and 'Mardaani' both of which have excellent performances from their female leads. People seem to love Irfan Khan who plays the father here, but I found his acting so restrained as to be almost metronomic – OK it's hard to express subtle emotion from behind a bushy beard and turban, but he hardly seems to try. However, Tillotama Shome, as the daughter-dressed-as-son, makes him look positively animated, sleepwalking through scene after scene with no facial expression whatever. Are we supposed to conclude that dressing a girl as a boy turns her into a zombie? Their two wives on the other hand, were both excellent.
Then we get to the second part. Daughter/son kills father, starts to act a bit (she's really good at this point!) and things get even more interesting. Will she continue in disguise in order to have something like a normal life with her wife? Will she, as the wife urges and with her promised support, finally find herself as a woman? Or will it all fall apart for them? But the film-maker seems to have no interest in these fascinating characters. Instead of answering these questions, he resurrects the less-than-fascinating father as a ghost, weird things happen with no explanation, and all those interesting characters are soon gone: one wife dies in a fire, the other commits suicide and daughter/son just disappears. None of it makes the least sense and no other reviewer has even guessed at what the director is trying and failing to do here. What he succeeds brilliantly at is wrecking what to this point has been a very decent and worthwhile movie. A typical ludicrous and off-putting scene: Traditionalist vigilantes are gathering to punish the 'unnatural' woman-dressed-as-man. Ghost-father shows up, removes his shirt and says: 'I'm the son – do I look like a woman?' Maybe not, but what he does look like is a man in his 50's, definitely not a teenage boy. However, the vigilantes are all completely satisfied and just melt away into the underbrush. This is the point where you switch channels if it's on TV, or chuck the DVD in the garbage. I forced myself to watch on to the end, but there was nothing more to see, folks.
It's a film of two halves. The first, actually well over half the running time, is fine – the story of a father obsessed with having a male heir, a continuing problem in many parts of the world, and the difficulties that arise when he insists his fourth daughter is a boy. Others have commented more knowledgeably on this aspect. The script (in my case via subtitles) is well-written, it doesn't exactly rush along but I didn't feel it was too slow, the settings are atmospheric and the direction competent. I did have a problem with some of the acting though.
It's not just an India-UK thing. I've watched a few Indian films recently with women in traditionally male roles, such as 'Mary Kom' and 'Mardaani' both of which have excellent performances from their female leads. People seem to love Irfan Khan who plays the father here, but I found his acting so restrained as to be almost metronomic – OK it's hard to express subtle emotion from behind a bushy beard and turban, but he hardly seems to try. However, Tillotama Shome, as the daughter-dressed-as-son, makes him look positively animated, sleepwalking through scene after scene with no facial expression whatever. Are we supposed to conclude that dressing a girl as a boy turns her into a zombie? Their two wives on the other hand, were both excellent.
Then we get to the second part. Daughter/son kills father, starts to act a bit (she's really good at this point!) and things get even more interesting. Will she continue in disguise in order to have something like a normal life with her wife? Will she, as the wife urges and with her promised support, finally find herself as a woman? Or will it all fall apart for them? But the film-maker seems to have no interest in these fascinating characters. Instead of answering these questions, he resurrects the less-than-fascinating father as a ghost, weird things happen with no explanation, and all those interesting characters are soon gone: one wife dies in a fire, the other commits suicide and daughter/son just disappears. None of it makes the least sense and no other reviewer has even guessed at what the director is trying and failing to do here. What he succeeds brilliantly at is wrecking what to this point has been a very decent and worthwhile movie. A typical ludicrous and off-putting scene: Traditionalist vigilantes are gathering to punish the 'unnatural' woman-dressed-as-man. Ghost-father shows up, removes his shirt and says: 'I'm the son – do I look like a woman?' Maybe not, but what he does look like is a man in his 50's, definitely not a teenage boy. However, the vigilantes are all completely satisfied and just melt away into the underbrush. This is the point where you switch channels if it's on TV, or chuck the DVD in the garbage. I forced myself to watch on to the end, but there was nothing more to see, folks.