Kitaab

Very rarely we see a mainstream bollywood movie that is completely written with the main plot of school students or childhood days and the transformation of thought that a growing school boy goes through. This cannot be called as a nostalgic school story but it's basically a dark side story of a boy. This is Gulzar's classic.

We all have gone through dark thoughts during school days, and this movie depicts just that. It's the story of Babla(Raju Shrestha) and the thought that he has, dark and complex. He along with his friend Tito, indulge in various road side activities and doesn't want to go to school but want to read and grow old. The story is completely written from Babla's view. It's as if not Gulzar but Babla narrating us the whole story.

It's not that simple to make this kind of story and the complex emotional thing going on in Babla's mind. There's also a complex parallel story going on of Babla's sister Komal(Vidya Sinha) and his husband Nikhil(Uttam Kumar).

When Babla flees from home to avoid punishment, he meets several different characters on train. One such character is that of Shree Ram Lagooo, which according to me left such a strong impact in a short role which can be called as a guest apppearance.

This is purely Gulzar's movie and the way he has handled the story is the work of pure genius. It's not an easy or a regular drama to direct or make. This requires strong conviction and thinking.

Performance wise Raju Shrestha excels in Babla's role. There is that innocence and mischief on his face that is a treat to watch. Even the dileama and his complex thinking reflects on his face. Uttam Kumar as Nikhil is just brilliant and is pretty convincing. Vidya Sinha does his part well.

All in all this is a classic gem which should be watched by everyone, especially the parents.

As adults or as grown-ups, people feel that their childhood was the golden period of their lives. More often than not you would find people reminiscing and thinking about all the fun they used to have in school, and all the fun that they could have-but didn't have. All this is fine, but ask a kid whether he feels that he is happy with the world around him, and the way his life is going on- more often or not you would not get an answer in the affirmative. A child's world is a really complex one, where each problem is like a stone thrown from the top of a hill. To the child at the bottom of the hill, it is a stone that is moving down with great thrust, threatening to hurt him and damage his life. On the other hand, to the adults at the top, the stone is nothing but a casual flick of the wrist- something innocuous, and something that does not deserve much attention. Adults really will never understand the plights of their kids, or rather will refuse to understand them, and rightly so- for they know that these silly issues would pass sooner than later, and the kid will realize his folly at giving it too much undue importance. But what they don't realize is that it is this very time when a child is most vulnerable, and any casual handling of the winds that- as per him- threaten to storm his life, may lead to deep effects on his psyche that may not wear off even when he grows up.

Gulzar's 'Kitaab' is an exceptional reconstruction of a child's mind. It is a movie that is so thoughtful and so precise, that it seems like Gulzar had put himself in a child's mind to construct this story (or rather he might have taken some autobiographical references). It is story of a boy grappling with the world around him, and struggling to make sense of the things that happen and don't happen around him, in a manner that seems far off from what he thinks is logical. Babla (Master Raju in an unusual lead role for a Hindi movie) lives in Delhi with his elder sister (Vidya Sinha) and her husband (Uttam Kumar). He has been sent to the city that is far away from his hometown, by his mother, with the aim of giving him better education and a better environment to live in and blossom. A twelve year old righteous kid, Babla, who likes reading and writing more than the subjects he is asked to tackle in his school, is confused by the world around him. He fails to absorb the fact that the world expects children to get educated so that they can lead a respected life once they grow up and face the 'real world'. To him the street-side 'madari' kid seems to be in a better position for he is not made to attend school. To add to his confusion, he cannot understand why his mother has sent him away from her, and why his sister does not seem to have enough time for him. With the course of time he develops a stronger bond with his sister's husband who seems to care for him a lot more than even his sister. On the schooling front, he is frustrated by the constant stream of letters that the school keeps sending to his home, asking his guardians to reprimand him for the naughty deeds he never commits, but always gets blamed for by the teachers. His only respite from the worldly troubles is his best friend 'Paplu' with whom he enjoys the simple pleasures of life.

But then all the things things bottle up inside his head and he runs away from his home and city, aiming to go back to his mother and his village, away from all the troubles and all the people who did not seem to understand how he felt. Kitaab is the story of his journey, and how he evolves and grows up within a span of two days. Gulzar presents the story in an innovative back and forth manner; setting it in the present and going back through flashbacks triggered by the things Babla observes during his journey. As with every Gulzar movie, there are some delightful songs (though not very well known), but very relevant to everything that the master was trying to say through this film. To talk about performances, Master Raju brings alive Babla on screen, and it won't be an understatement to say that his performance is one of the best ones ever in Hindi cinema. The rest of the cast is efficient; Uttam Kumar deserves special mention for pitching in with a heartwarming and earnest act as Babla's guardian, and the kid who plays Babla's best friend Paplu too does a great job (so does everyone actually).

I can go on rambling about this movie, but instead of I will conclude with why everyone must watch this film- · You would have never such a thoughtful and sensitive tale on child psychology · This is Gulzar's best work by far (There are a few movies of his I am yet to see- but it would be tough to surpass this gem) · It will definitely lead you to remember some of the times spent in school · It will help you emerge (hopefully) as somewhat better human beings by the time the movie end- better parents (present and prospective) for sure

· It is one of the best movies to have come out of Hindi cinema- a true classic, and sadly a very lesser known one…

PS: If you thought 'Udaan' was good (which it was admittedly), just watch this one!!

This movie effectively captures the thinking of young children and their fantasies of the grown. Childhood can be a bliss but in todays hectic world children are often exposed to the realities of adulthood. This is funny yet sensitive story of a child and his sister who works as a Model in an Ad Agency.

This is one of the great story about the vulnerability of growing up kid. He gets lost, rans aways from his home , and finally comes back enlightened with time he spends with Fakir on Train. This is a must watch and quite entertaining as well.

The story is told mainly in flashbacks through the eyes of a little boy who dislikes school, his childhood and can't wait to grow up. But what could have been a proper story on a child's psyche is wasted in repeated scenes of the same thing(school admonishing the child for instance). The backdrop is provided by the fact that our protagonist lives with his sister and her husband in Delhi and the former indulges on modeling. This creates tension in the household but even that is not explored properly and seems like an opportunity wasted.

The few small songs this film has are irrelevant to the story and neither stand the test of time(but then, apart from few classic films from Hindi cinema's golden age, most films have very trite song sequences). What I really disliked was the acting. Apart from Uttam Kumar, it felt like an amateurish cast and the child essaying the role left a lot on the drawing board. I couldn't help but compare it to Raj Kapoor's 'Boot Polish' which had much superior acting from it's child protagonist than this film.

Some might consider it an obscure gem from the art house circuit but everything from that genre isn't enjoyable or worse, relaying a point. This film is such an example. Significant amounts of potential it had, but it relayed much little in the end.