Chintu Ka Birthday is a heartwarming little movie that requests you not to shed your last ounce of optimism during trying times. It's an international collaboration starring Vinay Pathak, Tilottama Shome, Seema Bhargava, Nate Scholz, Reginald L. Barnes, and a few others. Written and directed by Devanshu Kumar and Satyanshu Singh, the story revolves around an Indian family living in 2004 Iraq and how they're prepping to celebrate the birthday of six-year-old Chintu, the youngest member.
While it begins as a feel-good film with all elements in place, including cute Chintu (Vedant Chibber, who never goes overboard), his sweet sister Lakshmi, their loving parents Sudha and Madan along with Nani, the story takes a turn when their Iraqi landlord Mahdi pays a visit during the occasion, followed by Chintu's Iraqi friend Waheed. You even get a little comic-book-styled backstory of Madan's family and how they ended up in Iraq. Some laughs ensue, courtesy Waheed and his great comedic timing.
However, things get serious when two American soldiers knock on the family's doors. I appreciate the filmmakers for not toning down the language or the extremities at play in the later acts. Yes, there's a certain suspension of disbelief since nearly everything takes place within the confines of the house, but the warm performances of the ensemble carry it all the way through. While I'm quite sure that a lot of viewers may perceive the optimism displayed by Madan (Pathak) as a little excessive, it works given the circumstances that we find him in. Everyone in the movie's got a conscience.
This is a film with its heart entirely in the right place, and it was indeed touching to see the Tiwaris not giving up on wanting to celebrate Chintu's birthday, no matter what. You get a scene where the family goes through a harsh interrogation, but their bigger concern is how Chintu's birthday cake gets burnt. Several moments like these light up the film. And our hearts!
