My Favourite children flicks

Risk-averse Bollywood does not encompass large number of options of movies wherein a minor played the protagonist, but still some movies comes to my mind without any doubt. You can call these movies as kids’ movies but for me these are very well written script with superb performance and moreover these can be watched by every age group of people.

1. Boot Polish (1955)

Boot Polish is the first movie which comes to my mind whenever I think of kids movies. It was Raj Kapoor who took the responsibility of talking about one of the social problems of abandoned children. Directed by Prakash Arora, Boot Polish lead to a world of brother (Bhola) and sister (Belu), where they are forced to beg. John Chacha, a crippled drunkard, taught them to lead a better and respectful life. Bhola started polishing shoes. He never begged even in adverse conditions. He even not let Belu to beg when she was starving. Their life took a turn when Belu parted from Bhola. Belu was adopted by a rich family. Both Bhola and Belu were looking for each other. One day, Belu gave a coin to a beggar who was Bhola who ran away because of humiliation. Belu ran after him and both were united.

Performance wise Baby Naaz (Belu) was excellent, even Rattan Kumar (Bhola) did justice to his role. Apart from mail lead, one role which is worth mentioning is that of John Chacha played by David Abraham. He delivers his finest performance of his lifetime. Music of Shankar Jaikishan played important role and comprehended the overall mood of the movie.

It is a must watch if you love good cinema. Movie also won Film Fare award for Best Movie among many others.

2. TaareZameen Par (2007)

I think TZP does not need introduction. TZP is a movie about a child suffering from dyslexia and how an art teacher transforms his life, when nobody, not even his parents, was trying to understand his problem. This movie is about how Eshaan fights the competitive world in his own way.

It established Aamir Khan as perfectionist seeker who made good movies which are commercially viable also. Movie was released in an era where producers prevent themselves from indulging into any art-related cinema, especially when it is children movie, as the scope of commercial viability is limited. But, surprisingly, movie was a huge hit not just among children but also with every age group of people. Movie crossed excellence almost on every aspect. Debutant director, Aamir Khan, was praised for impeccably painting a heart-touching story on silver screen. Amol Gupte, the writer, was credited for his creative direction. Music was excellent and lyric of song “Maa” deserves a special applause. Tears automatically roll down your cheeks whenever you listen or watch this song.

Hats off to DarsheelSafary who gave such a wonderful performance registering himself as child super star of Bollywood!

3. Kitaab (1977)Kitaab is a masterpiece from Gulzar’s armory. Set in a backdrop of creeping western culture in Indian urban cities of late 70s, Kitaab talked about Babla who unwillingly left his grandmother in village to settle with his sister place in city where he can get good education. Babla became friend with Pappu, his classmate and started roaming around with him. Sometime they bunk school to watch movies, smoking and other mischievous activities. They started making fun of teachers. Their mischiefs grew day by day and finally it reached her sister. Apart from periodic scolding, the personal conflict between his sister and brother-in law, led him to depart from his sister’s house and live with grandmother. During his journey to village, he faced different aspects of life. While he was feeling cold in the night, he slept alongside a beggar sharing his blanket. When he woke up in the morning he found him dead. Realizing complicated world of poverty, he decided to live with sister and become a better person.

Kitaab could not make any impact on box office but good is not always popular. Good was written from the first scene and it just got better in every other scene. It was heroic attempt of Gulzar that had produced a marvelous movie. Thank You GulzarJi!

4. Jagriti (1954)Jagriti is the one of the purest diamond of Indian cinema. It is a moral driven movie but with fine elements of relationship intricacies whether it is a relation between uncle and nephew, teacher and students or between friends. It is a story which unfolds the responsibility which comes with every relationship. Mischiefs are the part of childhood but one should be dare to accept one’s act – lying about one’s own mischiefs is immoral. A teacher is equally responsible for performance of his/her students. It is friend’s duty to show right and better path of manhood to his wandering friend. It is also important to respect one’s country and its culture and one of the most important moral was that it is the duty of every child to study, learn and excel in life. All these morals were beautifully knitted in a story of Ajay and Shakti. Worth mentioning is the music of the movie which gave some of the best songs of all time. Songs like “Dedi humain aazadi bina khad bina dhaal”, “aao bacho tumhe dikhain jhanki Hindustan ki” or “Hum LaayeHainToofan Se KashtiNikaalKe”are evergreen.

I personally believe that each child should watch this movie. May be Aamir Khan should take the responsibility of re-making this movie for today’s generation.

5. StanelyKaDabba(2011) and I Am Kalam(2011)Both movies highlight the basic issue of child labor but in different backdrops. Stanley kaDabba sets in urban school where Stanley is passionate about learning and studying, though he works in road-side hotel own by his uncle. On the other hand, I Am Kalam is based in Rajasthan culture, where Chottu dreams of meeting The President of India, APJ Kalam. Chottu is a village boy who learns very quickly and impresses everybody with his talents.

Both movies capture the different moods of child labour – one is out of fate as Stanley lost his parents and his uncle adopted him only to make him work in his hotel and the other one is out of poverty as severe draught in Rajasthan forced Chottu’s to work for his uncle. But both convey the same message – Say No to Child Labour!

Personal favourite flicks on friendship.

Friendship is a relationship which you choose, unlike that of blood relation which is given by God’s grace. From living those memorable moments to sharing those unprecedented feelings, it is friends who first come to your mind. No friendship is impeccable; each has its own flaws, ups and downs, and a story to be told, therefore, filmmakers are ready to dive in a vast ocean of friendship and pull out some gems and some pearls to be showcased in your living room forever. I picked some of my favorite movies based on friendship. All these movies have different flavor of friendship.

1. Dil Chahta hai (2001)

Nothing comes so close. Nothing becomes so dear. DCH was one of the best movies on friendship I ever saw in my life. Friendship is like a road trip without the knowledge of destination. It should be unconditional, but with such condition (pun intended) there can be more rough patches than smooth ones and therefore it becomes worth a story to be told, a story to get inspired and a story to live. DCH fantastically depicts the similar condition among three friends, Akash, Siddharth and Sameer. No bad boys, all were good at heart but situations and more precisely different viewpoints led them to internal conflict resulting in breakup-kind-of-status. Friends cannot keep their conflicts for long duration; all three united again forgetting all frictions and clashes among them.

DCH also made a landmark entry of Farhan Akhtar into Bollywood. It revived the career of Saif Ali Khan, and become the greatest launching pad for trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

This movie presents life with friends.

2. Rang De Basanti

RDB was another flick from Aamir Khan’s armory where friendship played an important role. It is one of the few movies which I saw in theatres more than once. It saw the eternity of friendship even one of friends is no longer present on the earth. Friendship is beyond birth and death of individuals. It stays on forever and ever.

This movie presents what a friend can do for a friend.

3. Dosti (1964)

Dosti is an old movie of 1960s from Rajshree Production house. This movie is about two friends, one is blind (Mohan played by Sudhir Kumar) and other one lost his leg in an accident (Ramnath played by Sushil Kumar). Ramnath came to city to look for his sister who is working in a hospital as a nurse and ran into Mohan after which both become good friends and used their talents for earning. Mohan sings and Ramnath plays harmonica. When Mohan finds that Ramnath is eager to study further, he asked him to stay at home and study. He brings a lantern as it was difficult to study under street light with so many uncivilized activities going on in the street. Their friendship takes a huge turn when Ramnath leaves Mohan to get away from filthy locality of their common dwelling place only to come back and understand the true meaning of friendship. It is one of the rare movies which depicts how important to have a friend. A friend is just not for sharing your happiness but also pain and understanding what is good for you even that involve some sacrifices.

This movie presents importance of friends in life.

4. Jagriti (1954)

Though the main theme of Jagriti is unleashing the knotted relationship between a teacher and students, but the subtle emergence of friendship as a main character is quite visible. Ajay, a spoiled brat, lands up in a boarding school and meets crippled and destitute child Shakti (played by Rattan Kumar – a fabulous actor, interestingly he worked in the first three Best movies winner of Film Fare Award). Shakti tries hard to transform Ajay from a spoiled brat to responsible and lovable kid only to meet with an accident when he was running after Ajay who was leaving boarding school. The death of Shakti changes Ajay and becomes a better person. This movie presents how friend can make you a better person.

5. Stand By Me (1986)

Stand BY Me is one of the rare movies that showcase the true meaning of friendship so profoundly that you start calling your old buddies after watching it. Four friends, each having different past and rather undesirable family background, set out on an adventurous journey of finding the dead body of a boy who was killed in some train accident. During this journey, they meet their internal fears and counter them. Their own bruised relationship with each other took different turns only to realize that their past is too impactful to live in present with blissfully and peacefully. You can find only friend’s shoulder to cry on, to express your feelings and to rely on. The following line from the titled song of the movie truly depicts the essence of movie:

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we'll see

No, I won't be afraid, No I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Do write your own favourites.