Thanks Maa - Movie Review

A street kid is answering the nature’s call in the open when two more join him for a common laxation act and strike an impromptu interrogation on the spot. But rather than repelling, the smutty scene keeps you riveted. This isn’t the usual crap that Bollywood serves you almost every week.

Thanks Maa is no shitty business. Never since Salaam Bombay or Slumdog Millionaire have the street kids from Mumbai slums been portrayed more realistically and rivetingly in a feature film. All thanks to this maa of meaningful cinema.

Five street kids team up in pickpocketing unsuspecting passengers on platforms. Soda (Salman) leads the team with Municipality (Shams) while the kiddos including Dhed-Shana (Jaffer), Cutting (Faayaz) and Sursuri (Almas) follow suit.

Municipality lands up in reformatory and while escaping, comes across a two-day old abandoned baby. When the apathetic society turns a blind eye towards the infant, he becomes his caretaker and decides to reunite the child with his mother. With the help of his group, he runs relentlessly across the city in this quest while keeping hopes of chancing upon his own mother who abandoned him years ago.

The film works largely for the amount of authenticity that director Irfan Kamal imparts to every frame of the film. Right from casting actual slum kids to training them through extensive workshops, the film boasts of undisputed credibility throughout its treatment. True to the street-smart city lingo, almost every line in the film is marked with expletives galore that are spoken with as much nonchalance by the kids as the city does through the day. One could argue on the extent and intensity of the abusive language but the director seems to be in no mood to compromise on the essence.

The writing by Irfan Kamal and Vishal Vijay Kumar is original, hard-hitting, layered and enters territories untouched so far on the screen. The protagonist’s selfless journey to unite the child with mother is interestingly structured through his encounters with unique characters like a druggie cabbie (Sanjay Mishra), a philanderer (Ranvir Shorey), a prostitute (Mukta Barve), a eunuch (Jalees Sherwani), a priest (Barry John) and more muddled mortals like these. While having an array of grey characters, the film never gets judgmental, suggestive of treatment characteristic of Madhur Bhandarkar movies.

The screenplay is skillfully sketched with scenes that show a new perspective of the city which every time adds to the protagonist’s struggle. At its core, the film is essentially about abandoned infants that frequently make newspaper headlines and hope for a better life (rather life) for them that they are deprived of. And the beauty of the narrative is in its irony that when the protagonist is actually successful in finding the infant’s mother, he loses the hope and inclination to find his own mother.

Despite its dignified concerns and destitute setting, there is a silver lining of sarcastic humour arousing from strange situations and the chemistry between the children. Atypical of artistic arena, the pacing is thankfully swift and the treatment doesn’t get abstract. The length does seem long towards the latter reels and trimming it a bit would have helped. The climax seems somewhat hurried and some more clarity in storytelling here could have made things easier. Also the coincidental appearance of the protagonist’s (Municipality) mother towards the end looks formulaic and was absolutely avoidable.

The modest film doesn’t trade off on technicalities. Essentially the focus is not on highlighting the beauty of the city and cinematographer Ajayan Vincent captures the unclean and uncouth backstreets of Bombay with excellence. Ranjit Barot’s background score adds value to the scenes whenever required and doesn’t force itself on the film. The sound designing and editing are efficient.

The film predominately works for its natural performances from the bachcha company. None of them are sugary sweet or blatantly boisterous like typical kiddo acts in films. Master Shams as the lead player is compelling, confident and the right choice for the National Award (Best Child Actor) that he won. He is brilliant in the pre-interval outburst. Fayyaz as the smallest in the group gets the best one-liners and complements Jaffer at every step. Almas is likeable despite her perpetually running nose. The eldest in the group, Salman puts in a perfect street-smart act as required from his character.

From the supporting cast, Mukta Barve is effective in a short role. Barry John struggles to speak Hindi and seems absolutely uncomfortable in his character. Writer-lyricist Jalees Sherwani is efficient in the single scene where he plays a eunuch. From his patented fatherly figure, it’s a divergent and dulcet change to see Alok Nath play a pedophile. Sanjay Mishra, Raghuvir Yadav and Ranvir Shorey add good support. Thanks to heartening films like these, one never loses faith and hope from Hindi cinema. For a new perspective on the mean city and meaningful cinema, Thanks Maa is strongly recommended!