स्निफ़: बच्चों की बचकानी फिल्म! [2/5]

बच्चों की फिल्म बचकानी हो, वो भी अमोल गुप्ते जैसे संजीदा और काबिल फिल्ममेकर की कलम से निकली और उन्हीं के निर्देशन में बनी, तो हर छोटी गलती भी जैसे गुनाह लगने लगती है. बच्चों को लेकर उनका नजरिया, उनकी ईमानदारी, उनकी समझदारी पहले 'तारे ज़मीन पर', फिर 'स्टैनली का डब्बा' और 'हवा हवाई' में खूब निखर कर सामने आई है. भारत में वैसे ही बच्चों की फिल्में कम ही बनती हैं, और जो बनती भी हैं, दिमागी तौर पर बच्चों को हमेशा कम आंकने की भूल करती आई हैं. बच्चों की पसंद-नापसंद से ज्यादा, उनसे जुड़ी सामजिक समस्याओं को उनके ही नजरिये से पेश करने में, गुप्ते छोटी फ़िल्मों को भी बेहद बड़ी और जरूरी बना देते हैं. ऐसी ही एक छोटी फिल्म 'स्निफ़' गुप्ते की लाख कोशिशों के बाद भी, मनोरंजन और अहमियत दोनों में छोटी ही रह जाती है. 

सन्नी (खुशमीत गिल) के साथ एक दिक्कत है. वो सुन सकता है, देख सकता है, पर सूंघ नहीं सकता. मसालेदार अचार के बिज़नेस में पीढ़ियाँ खपा देने वाले परिवार का चिराग सूंघ ही नहीं पाए, तो दिक्कत और बड़ी लगने लगती. वो तो भला हो स्कूल के केमिकल लैब में हुई दुर्घटना का, जिसके बाद सन्नी न सिर्फ सब कुछ सूंघ सकता है, बल्कि दो-दो किलोमीटर तक की चीजें सूंघ सकता है. जल्द ही, उसकी ये 'सुपरपावर' उसे शहर में हो रही गाड़ियों की चोरी के मामले की तह तक पहुँचने को प्रेरित करती है और अब सन्नी का जासूसी दिमाग उसकी नाक की तरह की तेज़ी से काम करने लगा है.

भारत में ऐसी फिल्मों की भरमार है, जिसमें बच्चे अपनी उम्र से आगे और ऊपर बढ़ कर भरपूर बहादुरी का परिचय देते हुए किसी न किसी गिरोह का भंडाफोड़ करके 'हीरो' बन जाते हैं. अमोल गुप्ते ने अपनी पिछली तीनों फिल्मों में इस वाहियात ढर्रे को तोड़ते हुए नए तरह की समझदारी दिखाई और हर बार सफल भी रहे. 'स्निफ़' पता नहीं क्यूँ, किस दिमागी दिवालियेपन के चलते वापस इसी ढर्रे की तरफ मुड़ जाती है. सनी ढेर सारे मोबाइल फ़ोन के साथ सीसीटीवी सेटअप तैयार कर लेता है. चोरों को पकड़ने अकेला निकल पड़ता है. परदे पर चोरों का गिरोह शराब पीते हुए दिखाया जाता है, ताकि सन्नी को उनके चंगुल से निकलने का मौका मिल सके. सन्नी की सोसाइटी में हर भाषा, हर प्रान्त से कोई न कोई रहता है. बच्चों की फिल्म में एक बंगाली इंस्पेक्टर अपने पति पर ताबड़तोड़ थप्पड़ बरसाती है, क्यूंकि उसने चोरी से मिठाई खा ली थी और अब उसका शुगर लेवल बढ़ गया है. इस एक दृश्य को बड़े तक पचा नहीं सकते, बच्चे तो क्या ही मज़े लेंगे? हालाँकि फिल्म के देखे जाने लायक दृश्यों में भी गुप्ते की वही समझदारी दिखाई देती है, पर सिर्फ झलकियों में. स्कूल के कुछ दृश्य हों, या फिर सन्नी के किरदार में खुशमीत का अभिनय; बाल कलाकारों की पूरी मण्डली बड़ों से कहीं ज्यादा धीर-गंभीर दिखाई देती है और अपने स्तर पर पूरा मनोरंजन करती है. 

आखिर में; अमोल गुप्ते की 'स्निफ़' एक बेहद औसत दर्जे की फिल्म है, जो न तो किसी भी तरह बच्चों का भरपूर मनोरंजन करने में ही कामयाब साबित होती है, ना ही उनसे जुड़े किसी भावनात्मक मुद्दे को पेश कर बड़ों का ध्यान खींचने में. फिल्म में सन्नी जब तक सूंघ नहीं पाता, उसमें संभावनाओं और भावनाओं का एक पूरा समन्दर छिपा दिखाई देता है; सूंघ लेने की क्षमता आते ही, एक बार फिर अमोल गुप्ते उसे आम बच्चों में ही ला खड़ा कर देते हैं. मैं जानता हूँ जज्बाती तौर पर ऐसा कहना अमानवीय होगा, पर इससे अच्छा तो सन्नी ठीक ही न होता. फिल्म बेहतर हो जाती! [2/5]   

SINGHAM RETURNS: A pair of earplugs could save a lot for you! Rest is all wasted! [2/5]

The consequences of a film joining the over-hyped ‘100 Cr’ club could be many but one you don’t really want to face in most cases, is its inescapable and obvious sequel. Rohit Shetty’s SINGHAM RETURNS is one of those. As a fellow cop in the team makes it loud and clear soon after hero’s grand entry on screen, “Gaanv se shaher badla hai par apne Bajirao Singham ke kaam karne ka tareeka ab bhi wahi hai”! Translation could read, “Only the locations have been changed and the settings, Singham is all the same”. Spot on! SINGHAM RETURNS is a mindless action entertainer that tickles your heart less and hammers on your head more. I hope it hints you enough to carry earplugs and a couple of pills, in case of severe headache!

The new playground for Bajirao Singham [Ajay Devgn back in his vest & khaki avatar] is the city of Mumbai where corrupt politicians force their own set of rules to rule. An Anna Hazare in disguise idealistic Guruji [Anupam Kher in an extended guest appearance] is unwavering about cleaning the filth called corruption and black money from politics but the evil forces including barely a sketchy politician [Zakir Hussain in his probably most attempted character on screen] and a phony holyman who immediately gets into his cool casuals with a glass of beer in hands when not in some public appearances, have their own vicious plans. Singham returns to fight for freedom, justice and enforcement of law in the system, against these mean minds.

Rohit Shetty’s SINGHAM RETURNS clearly shows his over-confidence in the most usual and sub-standard plot. An honest cop’s frustration and distress while on duty leads him to be transformed into a fearless fighter who can also go beyond law to teach lawbreakers a hard lesson. So far so good! So far some respite! But when you see Ajay devgn mouthing dialogues like, “dhoom machaani hai machao, par bike ki gati [speed] par nahin, desh ki pragati [progress] par”, you sure can guess where it’s going. And SINGHAM RETURNS does that often. Where the first half is quite alike any regular episode of the longest running cop-drama CID on TV [You can also find the loveably single-minded Daya here to act on his favorite, “Daya, Darwaja tod do!”, second half is more of Shetty-special shootouts, blasts and ceaseless gravity-defying goon-bashing sequences.     

The other part that doesn’t go well with the film is the love-track! Kareena Kapoor plays Avni who besides dreaming to own a franchise of salon, can be seen frenzied over the idea of her marriage to Singham. It is the least appreciated thing if you have especially come out to see a Rohit Shetty Action entertainer. On the performances, Ajay does what people love to see him doing. A macho man who is invincible, intrepid and heroic in every sense! Kareena irritates, well mostly! Amole Gupte slips into the skin of Chandraswamy like Guru of political influences well and succeeds in providing some not sufficient but good laughs.

At the end, a strict warning for parents! If the child artist’s ‘mala raga gheto hai’ act in Yo Yo Honey Singh’s ‘Aati majhi satakali’ song looks cute to you and your kid, it doesn’t necessarily mean the film is for kids! Stop taking your kids in each and every film you go for! It is like in between those blasting-flying-on fire SUVs in the film, you see a trapped Tata Nano being driven by Ajay Devgn and you go into serious prayers, “No, not this! Don’t! You can’t!” Watch it only if you’re one of those unfortunates who are still at home on this extended weekend! Rest, do not bother! [2/5]

HAWAA HAWAAI: Honest, sincere and simply Heartrending!! [3.5/5]

Sincerity shows. Honesty pays off. And simplicity stays…in your heart, forever. If not so, how could Amole Gupte’s just another ‘underdog takes it all’ drama HAWAA HAWAAI not only manage to entertain, excite and impress you but also stirs you up with the ruthless reality we are in without being any sympathetic or sensitive about it. Though slightly superficial in novelty, HAWAA HAWAAI could definitely be seen as a charmingly emotional story of a distant relative to Stanley from Gupte’s first directorial drama STANLEY KA DABBA. Moving and deeply thought-provoking!

HAWAA HAWAAI is all about hope. Hope that blooms and flourishes in the very odd of life where everyone else would decide to step back! After his farmer father’s unfortunate death, when Arjun Harishchandra Waghmare [Partho Gupte in a stellar-performance] - a kid with starry eyes is forced to shift to the swarming city of dreams Mumbai, he doesn’t hesitate an ounce from taking a job at local tea-vendor to offload some burden from his single mother. And there, life blesses him with a hope- a dream to fly not with some pair of wings but wheels.

HAWAA HAWAAI is about making choices you believe in. Skating is never a profitable venture one should look up to for all his life. Lucky Bhargava [Saqib Saleem] has always been told that by his ‘the great American keeda’ brother and a skating-professional now settled as an investment banker in US, but still the choice Lucky makes to train a ‘chaiwallah’ is nothing short of chasing his own dreams cherishing now in Arjun’s eyes.

HAWAA HAWAAI is also about having friends for life. Who would have thought a gajra-seller, a rag-picker and workers at Car service center & small-time hand-embroidery factory could ingest so much to make his friend achieve what he only can dream of! In one sequence; when asked about their individual dreams, one of them fervently replies, “ek time par ek hich sapna, pehle woh poora kar lete hain!”

And above all, HAWAA HAWAAI is all about kids. Kids who live, act and behave in a better manner than most of the adults would do! So when a typical burger-eating rich kid offers his expensive skating kit to Arjun as he would feel proud to see him win the competition, you sure feel imparted with the emotion. Partho Gupte is the most uninhibited performer no less than any established actors in the list. The kind of sincerity and effortlessness he infuses is mesmerizing and a textbook material for anyone interested in the business. Saqib impresses with his ease and confidence. The gang of four kids sweeps away most of the lighter moments in the film but the one who deserves all the applause is Amole Gupte. His approach of handling kids with care onscreen is amazing.

Overall; HAWAA HAWAAI is a much better film for your kids than those heavy action sci-fi superhero films despite lacking the urge of being original sometime. It may not be as fresh, new and inventive in concept as STANLEY KA DABBA but in emotions, it’s strong enough to shadow all odds like Arjun does in the movie. Watch it! [3.5/5]