Chillar Party

We were always in the age of the first time director. And now it is the age of first time director pairs. Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari seem like 2 people who really like kids and canines alike. To pick a project such as Chillar Party as their first movie takes a lot of courage and more importantly would require loads of love for children and dogs to be in a position to handle the stresses that come with it. And I must say that it showed. Their handling of 8 brats and 1 girl was commendable for a first attempt. Not that the artistes were mind blowing in any way (with the exception of a couple) but they made the cut for certain. It would have been quite an experience for both directors and the cast I am certain. What was heartening to see was for the first time someone has taken up the cause of protection of dogs and the ridiculous rules that the government keeps putting up from time to time to “rid” the city of the “menace” called stray dogs. Being a dog lover like I am, I was quite thrilled to see the effort and call out three cheers on the subject of the movie for sure!!! I hope the movie gets people to change their perspective about street dogs in general and that they are nowhere close to being dangerous animals.

Chillar Party is a movie that parents must take their kids for not just because it is an all out entertainer but because it has so many messages. Once you filter those which are useless such as speaking “Mawali” (local lingo in Mumbai) you have a story that is inspirational. The movie talks about how it is important to take up a cause and fight for it to the end. Do what is right even if it means you don’t keep everyone happy. Stay with friends and stand up for them and their rights no matter what. Kids have a heart and have feelings too – a fact that loads of us forget – and it is essential for parents to not only recognize and acknowledge that but also channelize them in the right direction. The Chillar Party of Lucky Singh aka Panauti (Chinmai Chandranshuh), Silencer (Vedant Desai), Ramashanker Aiyer aka Akram (Rohan Grover), Shaolin (Divji Handa), Balwan aka Jhangya (Naman Jain), Aflatoon (Aarav Khanna), Laxman aka Second hand (Vishesh Tiwari) and Arjun aka Encyclopedia (Sanath Menon) team up with the local mini celebrity who is called Toothpaste (Shreya Sharma) to generate excitement and push for retaining 2 people who come into their lives and become an integral part of it – The local car washer Phatka (Irfan Khan) and his cute mutt Bhidu. In the bargain, they ruffle up a few feathers, make a few enemies, shake up the system, help people look beyond the external looks and most importantly show the world that you are never too small to take on a challenge – ala David v/s Goliath

Chillar Party is not really worth raving about from a perspective of acting – and I have mentioned this that I hate to break a kid’s heart but have to call out the acting as average at best – a tad robotic in parts. Stand out performances come from Chinmai Chandranshuh and Naman Jain. The direction is above par but the music isn’t. The story is good but the finishing and narration are not. Overall too many cons from a perspective of movie making but entertaining and enjoyable. Don’t miss the “Chaddi March” which is the highlight of the movie other than “Tain Tain Phis” starring Ranbir Kapoor which comes after the credits and is extremely well choreographed. I give it 5.5 on 10 as a movie but encourage you once again to watch it for sure.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls7hxjVnHNQ