From a rustic Rajasthani setting emerges a movie that would have, I presume, sent reverberations across the country. If not the whole nation, at least across the hearts of a bunch of people who have watched ‘I am Kalam.’ This movie indeed is a wondrous effort by the director Nila Madhab Panda.
This movie instantly connects the audience. The acting comes natural, as of course the protagonist of this movie Chottu a.k.a. Harsh Mayar had been plucked like a lotus from a muddy Delhi slum. For the very first time, I indeed like ‘THE BAD MAN’- Gulshan Grover. The rest of the cast were equally good.
‘We write our own destiny’, as our former President A.P.J. Kalam would say is the message that rings throughout this movie. We humans indeed like a story extolling the glory of hard work. To pick a bromide, I would say, we love a ‘Rags to Riches’ story. This movie is all that and more…
Chottu is a sharp young Rajasthani boy born to a very poor family. His mother decides to leave him with Uncle Bhati, who is a dhaba owner, so that he could learn a trade, plus help his mother monetarily in whatever way possible. He soon finds himself exchanging French phrases with tourists who came at the dhaba to experience the famous ‘Bhati Tea’, exclaiming in wonder ,“Mirchi (chili)!!” when a tourist says that she came from Chile, playing around with Prince Ranvijay (Hussan Saad) and terrorizing Laptan (an Amitabh Bachchan fan) with the old witches’ tales.
A special mention here- the bonding between the two kids is excellent. It does remind me of ‘Children of Heaven’. Unheeding cast, creed and rank, Ranvijay and Chottu scamper across the village, climbing trees, throwing stones in the pond, studying together. After all, children only understand the language of love and brotherhood.
Also worth mentioning is the sad sonnet of unrequited love of an infatuated lover Bhati (Gulshan Grover). He is head over heels in love with a ‘Goori Mem’- Lucy. He is seen dabbing his hair with color dye and goofing around like a fool following his bony lass whenever she comes to his dhaba charging on a bike. The poor fellow is extremely crushed when he finally comes to know that she was already married.
This movie is a vignette of Indian Cinema. Irrespective of your tastes, you would indeed love this movie. I say this with all my heart that you surely don’t want to miss this movie…
Alienman 