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| Edited By: Aishwarya Vasudevan |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Jun 05, 2020, 11:28 AM IST
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Tillotama Shome, Vedant Raj Chibber, Bisha Chaturvedi, Seema Pahwa, Khalid Massou and Mir Mehroos
Director: Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh
Duration: One hour 23 minutes
Where to Watch: ZEE5
Critics' Rating: 3.5
A family aspires to bake a cake for Chintu and celebrate his birthday despite the lockdown. The film revolves around the narrative of an endearing middle-class family trying to celebrate a 6-year-old's birthday whilst tackling the extraordinary situation in a war-torn country of Iraq.
Birthdays during lockdown due to the pandemic has become the new norm now. Many people especially kids who are always excited for their birthday are celebrating it at home and sometimes a virtual presence from their friends and family. When Chintu Ka Birthday was screened during the Jagran Film Festival in 2019, little did they knew that it will become a relevant story in a matter of a few months. The film is not entirely fictitious as it's set in 2004 against the backdrop of the war-torn country of Iraq.
If you see the length of the film which is one hour 23 minutes, the makers did not waste a single minute in narrating the story. We have two loving parents played by extremely talented Vinay Pathak and Tillotama Shome. The cute Chintu played by Vedant Raj Chibber is the narrator of the film who gives the back story of how they landed in Iraq and now stuck in the war-torn area due to Saddam Hussein and George Bush.
Chintu in a way blames Bush for not letting him celebrate his birthday but his parents especially father with a smiling face makes sure to fulfil his son's minutest wishes. Knowing that expecting a lavish birthday with a delicious cake is too much to ask, but not for a loving father. His son's only desire to cut his birthday cake becomes the only motto of his dad's life that day. The movie is well supported by their young daughter Laxmi played by Bisha Chaturvedi and Seema Pahwa as Tillotama's mother. We see a usual taunting of Seema's character to her son-in-law for making them stuck there. On the other hand, Bisha's character defends her father and tells her granny to stop reacting on situations where the attention should be something else.
They live in a rented house which is owned by an Iraqi played by Khalid Massou. He is a loving person who lost his family and considers Chintu and his family as his own. He especially visits the house to celebrate the kid's birthday.
Singh Brothers have made sure to keep the film gripping and there are several edge-of-the-seat moments which will make you curious to know if Chintu gets to celebrate his birthday or not.
There are moments which are socially relevant for today in terms of humanity. Two Americans enter their house making them hostage and both have attitude and approach which are poles apart. One just wants the family to get ripped apart while the other means no harm. After being held as hostages, the house witnesses two young kids who didn't care about the war situation. They visited to celebrate Chintu's birthday showing the true sign of friendship.
One of the kids interact with the soldier like his own and even screams 'Yalla Yalla America' like no big deal. But eventually, they lead to a troublesome situation too.
Chintu Ka Birthday is the movie we deserve to watch right now where humanity is being questioned across the globe. The film will make you take a quick rewind of what has been happening around the world since the year started.
The film shows how hopeful the family is that they will be returning home soon to celebrate their future birthdays with near and dear ones.
In the end, all one can say is 'This too shall pass!'
This film deserves undivided attention and not be missed.
