Eela, as the title tells us, is a nightmarish helicopter parent. She hovers over every aspect of her son's life. When he asks for privacy, she says, "Kaisi privacy? Teri chaddi badli hai maine." Just like in the Melissa McCarthy film Life of the Party, Eela ends up going to college with her child. Which of course pushes her suffocating ways to the next level.

Helicopter parenting, also known as "They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do", is one of the themes of Pradeep Sarkar's latest movie. Kajol stars as Eela, a former model and singer who has had to give up her career after her husband Arun (Tota Roy Chowdhury) walked out on the family when their son Vivan was a tot.

Have you ever ordered a chicken biryani but ended up with just plain rice and curds instead? The disappointment is the same with Kajol's Helicopter Eela. At the outset, the film had everything to capture the audience's interest and attention- Kajol, for a first, and the story of a single mother who joins her son's college, in order to complete her education. The trailer seemed fun and perky, with the promise of a generous dose of melodrama in the film.

She is getting ready, grooming to the 1997 chart buster 'Paree Hoon Main' sung by Suneeta Rao, it's the same year when GUPT was released and Kajol stunned the world as Isha Diwan and went on to create a record by becoming the first woman in Filmfare Award history to receive the best villain award. It's 21years and still Kajol's charm on screen is a million bucks and the nostalgia is strikingly spot-on in her latest, helmed by Pradeep Sarkar (PARINEETA, MARDAANI previous achievements).

Eela (Kajol), a mother who's obsessed with anything his son Vivan (Riddhi Sen) is connected to. In the start we see Eela getting admission in the same college as Vivan's. Out of nowhere we are taken to the flashback sequence to see how she was a dreamer. An aspiring singer, Eela of 90s is ready to sing anything even if they're jingles for television.

Eela Raiturkar (Kajol) is an aspiring playback singer who stops chasing her career goal when she decides to marry Arun (Tota Roy Chowdhury) and settle down. Soon after her young son Vivaan (Riddhi Sen) is born, Eela changes gears and becomes a full-time "over-caring'' mom-plus-dad. But this is not the only aspect the film deals with.

There was a time when single mothers were a routine presence in Hindi films. Maaaaaaa, as she was known, was a saintly figure who spoke at a low volume deemed appropriate for the Bhartiya naari, was usually widowed or had had her husband cruelly separated from her by the evil villain, she wore white or very muted shades, attire other than saris was an absolute no-no for her, and her greatest act of aggression would come if ever her son's life was in danger, at which point she was known to ask Bhagwaaaan if he was nothing more than a "pathhar ki murti" (stone statue).

On-screen mothers often come in limited and familiar flavours-either they are working women driven by crazy pressure of balancing work and family or housewives who don't have a say in the house. But Pradeep Sarkar's Helicopter Eela introduces us to a totally different mother, Eela. She is the in charge of her life. She is pretty chilled with her son sneaking his girlfriend into their house for fun.

Ever tried your hand at cooking? You've got a bunch of decent ingredients and an interesting recipe. Yet, when the dish is ready and sitting pretty in the middle of your kitchen table, you find yourself staring at it, puzzled.

A doting mum and her resigned-to-it son are the focus of Helicopter Eela, in which said Eela helicopters around Vivaan to the extent of smothering him. Will they grow up and out of each other? This is a Bollywood movie, so that question is redundant. But the answer, which unravels over two and half excessively long hours, is so devoid of interest, that you feel like shutting down almost as soon as the film starts.

Based on a Gujarati play 'Beta, Kaagdo', Helicopter Eela is the story of a single mother, who makes her son's well-being, the only purpose of her life. But will she end up losing herself and her son in this relentless pursuit.

Pradeep Sarkar's Helicopter Eela, starring Kajol as the eponymous protagonist, is an undeniably well-intentioned family entertainer. But is that enough for it to pass muster? No. The film does appear to have a clear purpose. It is the delivery that's choppy. It is marred by an unconvincing storyline, vapid treatment and overly hammy acting. Helicopter Eela is a massive letdown.

At the most emotional moment of this film, a defiant and teary-eyed Kajol strides up to the piano. Her character Eela is a musician and an instrument therefore appears like a natural place for her to vent, though her choice of song is utterly confounding. So far in the film we have heard the singer perform a Ruk Ruk Ruk remix and other Hindi tracks, but now she breaks into an impassioned and nearly off-key song in English, something that goes 'O Krishna, you are the greatest musician of this world.'