Zor Lagaa Ke…Haiya: Best children’s film in recent years

Rating: 3.5 out of 5*

Starring: Mithun Chakraborthy, Mahesh Manjrekar, Riya Sen, Gulshan Grover, Seema Biswas, Ashwin Chitale, Ayesha Kaduskar, Meghan Jadhav, Ritwik Tyagi and Hardik Thakkar.

Director: Girish Girija Joshi

Four kids staying in the same building – Laddu (Hardik), Priya (Ayesha), Ritesh (Ritwik) and Karan (Meghan) feel threatened by a beggar staying near their building. They nickname him Ravan for his scary appearance. Forever intrigued by the bag he always carry with him, the four friends devise various plans to steal it and find out what is inside it but all their plans fail as Ravan (Mithun) outsmarts them every time. Finally they decide upon building a small tree house in their building compound so that through it they can keep a watch on Ravan who stays on the road across their building. Ram (Ashwin) who works as a labourer on the upcoming new constructions in their complex, comes to their aid and helps them build this tree house. But after many more attempts on stealing Ravan’s bags, the five kids end up being friends with Ravan and their tree house starts becoming the night abode for him. But, danger comes in form of ruthless builder Bakshi (Gulshan Grover) who decides to raze the tree for making way for a new gate in front of it for his commercial purposes. He takes aid of Gupta (Mahesh Manjrekar) his contractor on the site. How the five kids with the help of the homeless Ravan give a fight to Gupta and his cronies to save their tree forms the rest of the film.

While there was always a risk of sounding preachy when films carry a strong message, debutante director Girish has successfully managed to avoid that by subtly yet strongly incorporating his message through a neatly woven screenplay. The best thing about Zor Lagaa Ke is that the children in the film behave their age unlike typical filmy kids and their behaviour in this film is definitely relatable. Girish and his writer’s team have come up with some really good emotional moments especially in the second half. The lighter moments, such as the Superheroes, Mahabharat and Sarkar take offs have been imaginatively woven. The various tricks employed by Ravan and the five kids to shove away Bakshi and Gupta from cutting their tree house are simply hilarious. But the big twist in the climax is the master stroke. Bapi Tutul’s music is melodious with some real good lyrics by Amitabh Verma with the pick of the lot being Sapnon Ka… number. Most importantly none of the songs hamper the pace of the film.

The film deserves full marks in the acting department. Each single kid has leaves you very impressed with his/her endearing act. While Ashwin Chitale the child star of India’s Oscar entry Shwaas is simply superb in emotional moments, the burly Hardik and also Meghan, Ayesha and Ritwik enact their parts naturally. Mahesh Manjrekar is the most entertaining amongst the adults. The constant bearing he has maintained of his mannerisms is howlarious. Seema Biswas is remarkable as usual. Gulshan Grover is menacingly good. Riya Sen manages a cute cameo. But it is Mithun who towers over the film with his absolutely brilliant acting. This old war horse has proved yet again that if you give him a good role and a nice script and he will show you why he is such a multi National Award winning actor.

Zor Lagaa Ke…Haiya is a film for you and your children and of course the child in you, so just don’t miss it. Very rarely sensitive yet entertaining children’s films are made in India. It is a fine effort by debutante director Girish Girija Joshi and deserves a huge applause. -Sampurn Media