Der kleine Zizou

Boman Irani dances to Mambo Italiano - can this fail to charm?

I've seen Little Zizou twice at film festivals, and hope to see it again on a big screen in a US theatre -- it's so fresh, funny, smart, and accessible. Parsi people from India love the depiction of their unique world, and I have totally loved the glimpse this movie gives me.

Zizou, a cool-eyed boy, is our guide to his busy universe. He's ignored by a foolish father with a messiah complex all about "Parsi Purity." He watches the romantic adventures of his teen-age brother (his graphic novels appear on screen from time to time), longs for the mom he lost at birth, and schemes for the love of the mom next door. The happily-married dad next door and lover of old Rosemary Clooney tunes, Boman Irani (the always-appealing and charismatic character actor), is an adult moral center, as a newsman who knows dangerous nonsense when he sees it and is ready to do what it takes to oppose it.

Sooni Taraporevala, who has collaborated as a writer on many of Mira Nair's projects, gives us a sketch of the insanity of religious secularism, drawn with a light touch and observed by kids who are free of illusion and delightfully involved in lives, loves, and plots of their own.

Director, almost all the actors, and most of the characters in the story are Parsis, members of the Zoroastrian group that fled Persia for India about 1000 years ago and are still a colorful thread in the fabric of life in Mumbai. An exception is the sweet and glamorous Bollywood star John Abraham, who puts in a dreamy special appearance. All performances are stellar - besides Boman I particularly loved Zenobia Shroff as the warm and sexy mom next door, and her actual mom, Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, as her beautiful, blowsy movie mom.

PS just learned DVD will be released in India July 09. PPS it's now on Netflix

Written, directed and produced by Sooni Taraporevala and distributed by Studio 18, Little Zizou just manages to make it to the above average category. Sooni Taraporevala has been a part of almost every Mira Nair venture right from Salaam Bombay to The Namesake. After such a vast experience with different genres of movies, the expectation bar was already set high for Sooni with Little Zizou which does not even come close to the movies that she's previously worked on. Little Zizou is definitely a fresh script that simply is made for the multiplex audience. The movie is a little funny and a little emotional had it been funny or emotional completely, it would've done the trick.

Little Zizou is a story of 2 Parsi Families called the Khodaiji's and Pressvala's. Cyrus Khodaiji (Sohrab Ardeshir) who claims to be a religious Parsi healer wanting to establish a liberation organization for the Parsi's is often troubled by his Parsi counterpart Boman Pressvala (Boman Irani) who owns a Parsi news journal and is against the values and principles of Cyrus Khodaiji and makes sure to print articles against him every time. The youngest little boy of the Khodaiji family is Xerxes or Little Zizou (Jahan Bativala), a football freak who idolizes Zinedine Zidane and hopes to meet the football star if he ever toured Mumbai. His brother Artaxerxes (Imad Shah), a soft spoken artist and who visualizes life through his weird cartoons and dreams to build a Flight Simulator with his two other friends. The young little girl of the Pressvala's is Liana, who is clever and witty. The story just revolves around this subject and things go way too complicated when people react to the articles written by Boman Pressvala. The events that follow is to watch out for.

Little Zizou is a movie that could be watched once. It entertains you convincingly till the first half concludes but gets a little slow as you step into the second half. What is really good about the movie is, it keeps you with it till the end credits roll. The two child actors, Iyanah Bativala and Jahan Bativala steal the show. They're absolutely lovely and they make you love them as you watch the movie. They're naive and funny. Sohrab Ardeshir, who's seen mostly in ad-films gets his nod to show his acting skills and is impressive too. Boman Irani is very good as usual. Dilshad Patel, Shernaz Patel and Imad Shah have their done their bit convincingly.

Music by Bickram Ghosh is ordinary and suits the subject of the movie quite well. Little Zizou could be your movie for this weekend, provided there are many releases this week.

I will go with 7 out of 10 for Sooni Taraporevala's Little Zizou.

And a thumbs up to the two child actors of the movie.

Raghav Movie Critic, Writer's Lounge

for more reviews: www.raghavthecritic.blogspot.com

A gem of a film, funny and complicated and moving. The actors are so much at ease with their roles that they seem not to be performing at all, resulting in one of the most endearing depictions of family I've ever seen. The relationships are all carefully and lovingly etched - between Boman Presswala (Boman Irani, enjoying himself to the hilt as always - watch him when he's practicing dance steps) and his wife Mahabanu (the pitch-perfect Zenobia Shroff - where has she been hiding all this while?); between Zizou (Jahan Battiwala, who does a great job of being believably vulnerable without being a goody-goody kid) and his elder brother Art (Imaad Shah's finally found a role that he seems to fit right into, after the travails of Yun Hota To Kya Hota and Dil, Dosti, etc); between Mahabanu and her mother (Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, who turns in an absolutely brilliant performance as the slightly batty, but still full of joie de vivre mother). Not to be missed.

I don't know if I am elibigle to be a reviewer considering i watched this movie for only the first 30 mins. Well I guess I am very eligible to be a reviewer because to be honest, I couldn't handle more. Its a terribly self indulgent attempt at film making with the director under the impression that just showing a parsi neighborhood and throwing in parsi phrases can make up for the lack of substance in general and a script in particular. It certainly is not so. The film might actually have have a story which someone who stays on for the full length might be rewarded with. However I just didn't think the risk reward was worth it!