Motivational, inspirational, spiritual yet functional. A script that
celebrates the human spirit. It is not very often that the Hindi film viewer is
treated to anything of this genre, so welcome to some daffodils in the desert.
This is an open letter to position the human life line as a priority over the
fate line. Oh!! those manufacturing units of aspiring engineers and doctors,
this is a wake up call. IT MAY STILL NOT BE TOO LATE.
This is Amole Gupta’s answer to Doug Atchison and as near as Bollywood could
aspire to get near Akeelah and the Bee – a wonderful film to which I was
introduced by a cineaste of very high order. It is a celebration of the human
spirit and the power to convert your dreams into reality. It is about a young
boy from a chawl whose world comes alive as others live his dreams and others
their fantasies. The little boy who dreams and also lives the dreams of his
sports coach ends the victor. But that is the superficial part of the tale. To
however continue it at that level , we have Arjun Harishchandra (Partho Gupte)
a child all of 15 who is required to take up the job of a chaiwallah as his mother
(Neha Joshi) unwillingly witnesses, to keep the home fires burning. His dad
(Makarand Deshpande) has left behind many mouths to feed in a one room tenement
in Dharavi. As he is vending tea he notices the children of the very rich and
the also the ambitious middle class come by and let their children train for
skating. Their trainer Ankiet Bharghav – Lucky (Saqib Saleem) returns with an
injury from a road accident with bro (Anuj Sachdev) who is an Investment Banker
in the USA. Arjun has a gang of four friends – all social outsiders – Gochi
(Bismillah Khan), Bhura (Salman Khan), Abdul (Maaman Menon) and Murugan
(Thirupathi Krishnapelli). One a motor mechanic, one a rag picker, one a
jardosi worker and another a jasmine flower vendor. When Arjun dreams of becoming
a skater, the friends join him and quickly realise that buying skates is beyond
them. They then pick up waste and recycle it to a pair of skates. Arjun’s skill
sets get noticed by Lucky who is willing to give up a long promised trip to the
USA for the sake of the little boy and train him to being a champion.
From being Ekalavya he becomes the Arjun in a script that sometimes draws you
out of the theatre and treats you to life. It gnaws you with life teaching
experiences. Surely a piece of fiction but is also about a game changer who is
a long run rule maker. Life may be an altogether different comfort (?) zone but
without the pulpit it tells you that if you to push if you want to fly, dive if
you want to swim and dare if you care to dream. As a product of the Grit and
Spirit Club he works his energies towards his natural talent.
There we go, after weeks of romance revenge saga, political dramas and sitcoms
here is fresh breeze a la the rains in summer. In a world where adults hijack
the dreams and aspirations of their wards, we also have kids who are naïve
enough to even ask what do you mean by goals, and another who says: uperwallah
jahan patka wahin se chalna shuru kiya. This is not Chak De, Laagan, Bhaag
Milka Bhaag or Goal. This is a slice of life saga built on the dreams of a boy
from Dharvi. Woven around kids without malice it is devoid of those heavy duty
dialogues and hate filled moppet tales we are fed with.
It needlessly navigates through a Do Bigha Zammen moment where drama
turns into melodrama in the finale. Every one performs with a commitment that
makes the film a high quality experience. When did you last see a ‘children
film’ and walk out with wet eyes an awakened conscience? Here is an experience
worth taking alongside your family and do not miss it for anything. Most
importantly, it entertains and also puts things in perspective.
Rating : 4 stars
+ Storyline and treatment.
– Needless drama to melodrama in the end.
L. Ravichander.