The Great Shamsuddin Family Review: Kritika Kamra’s well-intentioned film snoozes under rushed writing and poor execution

The Great Shamsuddin Family Story: The Great Shamsuddin Family centres on writer Bani Ahmed (Krittika Kamra), who faces a crucial 12-hour deadline, which is interrupted by the sudden arrival of her chaotic family to deal with a crisis, forcing her to juggle professional pressure with intense domestic drama. 

The Great Shamsuddin Family Review

2025 has given us several family dramas, whether in theatrical release or direct OTT release. The plot of a family drama is deeply relatable, exploring universal themes of love, conflict, loyalty, and secrets within the core unit of a family, and JioHotstar's (OTTplay Premium) The Great Shamsuddin Family is one such family drama. The film carries a strong message, starring several talented actors; however, none of them leave an impact in this half-baked and awkwardly fast-forwarded narrative. 

The Shamsuddin family is huge, and almost every member appears at Bani's house when she is trying to submit her project before the deadline. Her home becomes the centre of family emergencies, forcing her to keep up with life's events along with her intense work pace. She tries to solve their problems while dealing with her own relationship and work. 

Bani's situation is relatable because when you write something, you need mental peace, which Bani doesn't have due to the family chaos. Right from the beginning, the film seems fast-paced, having no solid plot. For the whole Shamsuddin family, Bani's house is a safe place whenever a little inconvenience takes place. Her ex-boyfriend, along with his new so-called girlfriend, appears at her house just because they do not have a proper place to drink. Next, Bani's cousin, who wants to deposit Rs. 25 lakhs to her mother's bank account because she helped her boyfriend, but now he is not responding, wants Bani's help to sort it out.

Not only this, Bani welcomes one more cousin who is like a partner in crime for them. Her mother and aunts also visit her house and get to know about the money. The chaos does not end here. Bani's brother appears at her house with his girlfriend, Pallavi and tells her that he wants to marry her, and neither of their families knows about their intercast relationship. They expect Bani to solve this matter too, leaving her own work behind because nobody listens to her or takes care of her. Meanwhile, the cousin gets to know that Bani has applied for a job in the US, which makes the former sad, leaving Bani pondering why she cannot choose something for herself without her family scrutinising everything. This is quite relatable because Indian parents always want their kids to stay together, which sometimes becomes very tough. 

The plot suddenly turns into a sad narrative because the 'partner-in-crime' cousin sees the news that there is a road accident, and her husband is returning via that exact road. The atmosphere changes, and Bani calls her ex-husband to help investigate the case. Meanwhile, the family accepts the intercast marriage, and while the wedding preparation is going on, the cousin's husband appears suddenly, making everyone relieved. 

Also Read: The Great Shamsuddin Family on OTT: Kritika Kamra leads a comedy drama about balancing dreams and duty

In between this chaos, Bani's ex-boyfriend, who also gets to know that she has applied for a job in a foreign country, tells her that no matter where you go, you cannot escape the chaos of your family. It will reach you anyhow, whether you stay with your family or not. After getting this advice, Bani sees her family enjoying the intercaste marriage and realises that although the family is crooked, it's her own family, and her smile at the end subtly hints that she might not have accepted the job in the US. 

Speaking about the setting of the plot, it is absolutely half-baked and no matter how hard you try, you will want it to stop or rather, skip to the end. The execution is so tedious that you don't need to watch the screen, but closing your eyes and listening to the dialogue would alone do the job. 

The Great Shamsuddin Family features actors like Kritika Kamra, Farida Jalal, Sheeba Chaddha, Purab Kohli, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Dolly Ahluwalia, Juhi Babbar, Natasha Rastogi and others, but none of their acting stands out, and they do not have any pure expression throughout the film. I would blame the poor execution and direction for this. All the chaos happening at the same time with no solid background is boring to watch. 

The film could have worked better if it were a series with 4 or 5 episodes, and each chaos was shown in each episode with a solution at the end. The plot is poorly written, even though the social message is strong. Meanwhile, Anusha Rizvi, known for directing Peepli Live, helmed The Great Shamsudding Family, but could not showcase her real talent with the chaotic and fast-forwarded script that does not know where to stop for a moment to make it more relatable. 

The Great Shamsuddin Family Verdict

The Great Shamsuddin Family aims to be a relatable, heartwarming family drama, but ultimately it feels more like a hastily arranged collection of chaotic events than a coherent, emotionally grounded film. Despite its impressive cast and a potentially resonant theme about the burden of family expectations, the film's script is messy, the pace is uneven, and the characters never get a room to breathe due to the half-baked direction.

The Great Shamsuddin Family is streaming on JioHotstar (OTTplay Premium).