[Review] The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025)

[Review] The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) | Anusha Rizvi | Farida Jalal | Sheeba Chaddha

The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) is a family comedy drama written & directed by Anusha Rizvi. Produced by Ajit Andhare, Alok Jain, Mahmood Farooqui, & Vipin Agnihotri, with cinematography by Remy Dabashis Dalai, editing by Konark Saxena & music by Simran Hora, the film features an ensemble cast starring Kritika Kamra as Bani Ahmed, Shreya Dhanwanthary as Iram Ahmed, Sheeba Chaddha as Saafiya, Farida Jalal as Akko, Purab Kohli as Amitav, Dolly Ahluwalia as Asiya, Juhi Babbar as Humaira, Natasha Rastogi as Nabeela, Joyeeta Dutta as Latika,Anushka Banerjee as Pallavi, Nishank Verma as Zoheb, Manisha Gupta as Khushi & Anup Soni as Tauseef (cameo).

The film premiered on JioHotstar on 12 December 2025.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) Synopsis:

Set over one day in Delhi, Bani, a writer, is racing against a career-defining 12-hour deadline. Mothers, aunts, cousins and former romantic interests descend on her apartment, each bringing their own emergencies and Bani has to navigate interfaith complexities, generational conflicts and family expectations as she faces a dilemma, which could alter her life trajectory forever.

The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) Review:

First review of the year, and it’s for one of the last films I watched last year. And honestly, I wish more people talked about this lovely little film. The main reason why I decided to watch it, however, was Anusha Rizvi. Her previous film, Peepli Live, really appealed to me, and it’s purely because of that film that I watched The Great Shamsuddin Family.

Featuring an ensemble cast of quirky characters, the majority of which belong to the largest minority community in India (Muslims), the film tells a 12-hour story. We start with Bani, who is 12 hours away from her submission deadline. However, before she can even finish writing her application, her co-dependent family (sisters, cousins, and even aunts), barge in with requests for help. As can be expected from a co-dependent desi family, chaos ensues.

I’m going to start off by saying something political. This is a quote I heard in a podcast with a historian, who explained that contrary to popular belief, Muslims aren’t a minor group in Indian history. Muslims, more accurately put, are co-authors of Indian history. However, one look at mainstream media, and you’ll see how it’s been unfair towards this culture. Even when put in the forefront, they often tend to be stereotyped, speaking hindi with a heavy urdu influence and just seeming ‘exotic and foreign’.

Not the Great Shamsuddin Family. Their Muslim identity doesn’t overpower the aesthetics of the film. They are humans dealing with everyday problems, who just happen to be Muslim. Of course, their religious identity does play a role, and an important one at that. But we’ll talk about it in the next section. Here, I just want to focus on the humanity of it all.

Dysfunctional Desi Family

Kritika Kamra as Bani, Shreya Dhanwantary as Iram, and Juhi Babbar as Humaira

Each character feels like a real member of a dysfunctional desi family. The younger generation has mastered the skill of helping each other deal with absurd problems whilst hiding it from the more conservative elder generation. The younger more careless cousin who’s used to having others clean up after her; the older cousin who’s the pillar, while the middle-child ends up being the caretaker… we’ve seen a version of this in our (desi) families. Even the elder generation—despite seeming strict and narrow-minded at first—reveals itself to be surprisingly modern and understanding. Not only does that make them feel human, but also refreshing when compared to the backward cultural impositions that TV and mainstream films perpetrate.

The Great Shamsuddin Family takes care of its characters. It allows them to be flawed and borderline stereotypical. However, as the narrative unfolds, so do the layers of the characters’ bittersweet backstories. From the older generation who learned to cope with their restrictions and cultural traumas in their own ways, to the younger generation who’s living out a modern version of the older generation’s backstories. Even if you look past the cultural aspects, each character feels real in their own right.

Bani (Kritika Kamra) is a writer and an academician. Iram (Shreya Dhanwantary) is a divorced single mother dealing with a potential scam. Akko (Farida Jalal) & Asiya (Dolly Ahluwalia) are elderly sisters who are finally preparing to go to Mecca. And as much as their individuality enriches the story, it’s their interpersonal dynamics that make the film feel so real. The comedy might start off as goofy, but almost immediately feels relatable. Especially if you’ve been in similar situations.

Politically Relevant

You can’t make a film featuring a majority of Muslim characters in this political environment and afford to be apolitical. And The Great Shamsuddin Family is not. Being political doesn’t mean taking extreme stances. Even the simple act of looking past your personal biases just so your child can be happy with their independent decision is, in its own way, political.

Dolly Ahluwalia as Asiya, Sheeba Chaddha as Saafiya, and Farida Jalal as Akko

While the political climate of India is pretty divisive and Islamophobic, it would seem quite the achievement for such a film to even get made in the first place. Honestly, I blame this political climate for the relatively lukewarm marketing and release plan for this film. It came out of nowhere and I still don’t see enough people talking about it. The reason is most certainly the subject matter and the humanising of a community that the bootlickers have demonised since forever. But, that community has a perspective too, no? They are Indian, after all, and they too subscribe to many of the common beliefs around our identity as Indians. The family values, the shared cultural heritage, even the manner in which joint families deal with crises, both familial and otherwise.

Despite the characters not depending on their Muslim identity, that identity remains apparent in the undertones. In fact, the most difficult problem that the family faces is a Muslim perspective on a pretty common trope: an interfaith marriage. For a Hindu family, it’d be just that. For the Muslim groom in this political climate, however, it could mean mob violence. Echoes of current affairs loom around this incident without ever feeling disingenuous or forced. Instead, the film treads this balance lightly, hinting at prevailing problems without preaching about them all too much.

Not only is The Great Shamsuddin Family a deeply political film beneath layers of lighthearted entertainment, family drama, and a cast of quirky characters, it is an incredibly mature and sensitive film that treats its characters like human beings. In some sense, that too is a deeply political decision, if you ask me.

To tell this story with this level of sensitivity and political awareness is just one of the reasons why I loved this movie so much.

The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

After much back-and-forth, Saafiya finally accepts Pallavi as her to-be daughter-in-law. The Shamsuddin family prepares for an impromptu celebration, ordering sweets and other items necessary for the ceremony. However, their spirits are suddenly dampened when news of mob violence on a nearby highway reaches them.

Humaira’s husband, Tauseef, was supposed to have travelled by that highway. The car that was burned by the mod is of the same make and colour as Tauseef’s. The family immediately scrambles to figure out if Tauseef is fine, contacting any and everyone they can. There’s even a powercut that further escalate the rising tensions. However, as the family is consoling Humaira, Tauseef thankfully makes it back home. Relieved, the family proceeds to sing and celebrate Zoheb & Pallavi’s engagement.

Bani misses her deadline, but she’s okay with it. Despite the political climate, she prefers to be with her family who’s ready to drop everything and support her when she’s in need.

Is The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) worth watching?

Anushka Banerjee as Pallavi & Joyeeta Dutta as Latika

Yes! It’s not the masterpiece you’d expect, but a hidden gem that outperforms all expectations. All that, while featuring a Muslim family and carefully, subtly treading the divisive political climate of today, the film presents a sweet and entertaining plot and a roster of believably real characters.

In Conclusion:

The Great Shamsuddin Family (2025) by Anusha Rizvi is a delightful and charming family drama-comedy that finely balances its heart and emotions with political relevance.

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