Shararat dares to have dozen-odd golden guys and girls (from Helen to Amrish Puri to Shobha Khote) all crammed in the same frame. And of course there is a young couple — Abhishek Bachchan and new nymphet Hrishita Bhatt — to ensure a cross-generational appeal.

Young director Gurudev Bhalla, who is fired by the desire to do something different, has given his all to this story revolving around a exuberant youth Rahul (Abhishek) who has a passion for cars. Events force Rahul to live in an old people's home, Ashiyana, for a certain period of his life. Shararat details the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the home's inmates, their interactions with Abhishek and his personality change thereafter.

The film's trump card is in the sharp delineations given to the bunch of senior citizens living in the home. Yesterday's dancing queen Helen plays Anuradha Mathur a loving maternal woman whose sad eyes betray a secret. Amrish Puri is Prajapati, Ashiyana's iron man. While A. K. Hangal plays Gajanan Desai whose milquetoast exterior conceals a volcano seething inside. Shobha Khote essays the role of a lovable loudmouth while Dara Singh and Honey Irani are a cutely contentious couple.

Shararat would like to promote "productive ageing" and pass on the message that senior citizens too can exude positivity and be gung ho about their desire to enjoy life to the fullest.

Hopefully, the film's box office performance will live up to director Gurudev Bhalla's belief that "People want to see something new. If you give them something different they will accept it."