Film: Motu Patlu: King Of Kings
Director: Suhas D Kadav
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Sourav Chakraborty
What's it about:
A vegetarian and mouse-fearing (aargh, the horror!) circus lion called Guddu Ghalib (Shukla) breaks free, enjoys his freedom, has a bit of fun with the maanav jaati, but is brought to book by a samosa-devouring rotund Motu and his rather slim, though somewhat less bhola companion called Patlu. They have in their troupe, a Sindhi speaking gent, a Bengali babu moshai and a Tamil-spouting Singham cop.
Well, a well-meaning scientist gives them wristbands that allow them to understand animals (In your face, FitBit and Dr Doolittle!) and they proceed to converse with the rather scaredy big cat, Guddu, who'd love nothing than to be free to live as he pleases.
But no, do-gooders Motu Patlu will have none of it and proceed to transport him to a national park. Guddu passes by a jungle and after fooling Motu, makes a run for it.
Meanwhile, the king of the jungle, Singha (another lion, but a lion in the true sense of the word, regal roar and everything) keeps his rather fraidy animal subjects safe from all dangers. Principally one. A hunter called Narsimha, who loves his takiya kalaam (so 70s, but still!) that goes thus: 'Koi samjhe na hum zero hain, hum villain nahin, hum hero hain!' Okay then.
Anyhoo, this Narsimha character is there to exact revenge on Singha and would rather see him dead. While Singha knows how to protect his turf from the mortals, a chance encounter sees Motu Patlu siding with Narsimha, before realising that they've been had. What follows is Singha's death and how Motu Patlu try to convince Guddu to take his place.
What's hot:
For a TV-to-movie adaptation, this film ticks all the right boxes. More so, because this is a homegrown production. Some of the lighting, rendering, textures and other technical aspects of animation really shine through in some scenes. To be fair, the film has one bright spark just after the interval and builds up the ante after the interval.
What's not:
It's a kiddie film. Let's get that out of the way first. It first insults your intelligence with a rather done-to-death, crappy premise with a shayari-spouting lion, a narcissistic villain and an assortment of animals that increase and decrease in number as it suits fit to the director and producers. And a couple of heroes who are caricatures in the truest sense of the word. Then the preachiness comes, then the retort (that reply to Motu by Pathak's Guddu is for the books to anyone asking someone to fit into a mould) but it gets lost in all the blah and bombast. And then the final padhaav of the film, which becomes a victim of its own delusions of grandeur. Guddu's epiphany toward the end (don't look so alarmed, you saw it coming a mile away!) comes a little too forced. The words are well-intentioned, but their effect loses its effectiveness once the movie reaches its logical end. And the cliches and stereotypes! Don't even get me started.
And which villain gets to drive into a Indian jungle and lay waste to it at will? For sona, without getting caught. Did I mention there was a cop in the Motu Patlu troupe who does nothing, really?
The film's humour is below juvenile and downright stupid. And doesn't the writer know that gene splicing (danthers and some other mispronounceable name) isn't just a crime, it's really, really expensive. And yet, Narsimha has a mad scientist named Aavishkari Lal at this beck and call to create monsters to keep the jungle animals and their king at bay.
What to do:
Someone needs to grow up. Or regress into childhood. One of these things need to happen. Because this film isn't sure which side of the divide it wants to be. It tries to do everything, but ends up pleasing nobody. I didn't hear a single kid guffaw in the theatre. Or their suffering parents. And it's not for lack of trying. That's the sad part!
Rating: ** (2 stars)
