Star Cast: Lydian Nadhaswaram, Sachin Chaudhary, Yash Rane, Tamanna Dipak, Aayesha Vindhara, Amitriyaan
Director: Shiv Hare
What’s Good: The movie is here to tell you ‘Anyone can sing/be a musician’. After a long time, there’s a movie based on kids.
What’s Bad: What could’ve been a great inspirational movie turns becomes tedious to watch at times.
Loo Break: If you want to go, you can go. You won’t miss out on anything.
Watch or Not?: If you want to watch kids’ movie to take a break from adults, give it a watch. Otherwise, this story screams for some inspiration but gives too much drama.
User Rating:
A boy named Guddu (Lydian Nadhaswaram), who is around 10, loves music. Guddu doesn’t go to school, works for a tea vendor in Jhansi but has big dreams. Despite not knowing what the word musician means, he knows how to make music. He doesn’t need the traditional instruments to create music, as he believes every sound that’s around can be used as a tune. He dreams of getting into Tansen music school to learn more.
Guddu’s father Vishnu (Amitriyaan) is an alcoholic and a careless man. He hates music and is unaware of his son’s dreams. Hence, the young boy has to work at this young age. Our aspiring musician also has a younger sister who he looks after. After several setbacks, he ends up forming a band called ‘Atkan Chatkan’ along with his friends Madhav (Yash Rane), Chuttan (Sachin Chaudhary) and Meethi (Tamanna Dipak). The other three are orphans who either beg or get money by street dancing and singing. The life of these four kids changes when they get an opportunity to perform for a competition. However, their path is also full of obstacles. The story is about how Atkan Chatkan band sustains and the unbreakable spirits of these talented kids.
Atkan Chatkan Movie Review: Script Analysis
Inspirational stories sound good, but they aren’t always easy to execute. The writers, Shiv Hare and Aadesh Raathi had a simple and powerful story to tell. But what ruins it is the complicated writing. It could have been an excellent one-hour movie with a clear message. But by adding unnecessary drama and excessive characters, the plot seems lost many times. It’s dragged a lot, and there’s too much drama. While I understand the makers wanted to show the hardships non-privileged kids face to make their dreams come true, it could’ve been subtle and not over the top.
Atkan Chatkan Movie Review: Star Performance
The four kids who play the lead are amazingly talented. Lydian Nadhaswaram is a talented singer/musician in real life, and his talent is presented well on screen. His co-stars Sachin Chaudhary, Yash Rane, Tamanna Dipak, Aayesha and Vindhara also gave a good performance. The movie lies on the shoulders of these kids, and despite being a messy story, they managed to do their best.
Atkan Chatkan Movie Review: Direction, Music
As I said, the movie is dragged quite a lot. Some scenes are abrupt, which isn’t a pleasant watch. As the story is majorly set in Jhansi, the essence of small-town is captured well. There are moments in the movie that will make you smile and laugh. Only if the film was kept shorter and the drama was reduced, it could’ve been India’s Ratatouille; the only difference is this Disney-Pixar movie said to us ‘ Anyone can cook’.
When I got to know AR Rahman is presenting this movie and legendary percussionist Sivamani composes the music, my expectations were high. Also, from a film that’s based on music, you expect great songs. Sadly, Atkan Chatkan lacks that too. Not all songs click. But I enjoyed the title track, and a song crooned by Amitabh Bachchan.
Atkan Chatkan Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done. The movie lacks punch and WOW factor. The story was good, but too many elements and characters ruined it. It doesn’t deliver the inspiration we are really looking for. But if you want to watch a kids movie and have doubts about pursuing your career in music, give it a watch. The makers have indeed shown us how any sound can create music, and one doesn’t always need expensive instruments.
Two and half stars!
Atkan Chatkan Trailer
Atkan Chatkan releases on 5th September, 2019.
Share with us your experience of watching Atkan Chatkan.
Trending
Must Read: Away Review: There’s Less Space For ‘Space’ In This Netflix Sci-Fi Show Starring Hilary Swank