Kitaab

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.

This is a Hindi language film by Gulzar.

The film's theme is on the turbulence of childhood; a rare coming of age film from the 70s, and thus in a way a trendsetter in Indian films. Master Raju was a superstar of sorts in those days playing a young child in films - usually the hero's character from when he was child to give some background to the story. But in Kitaab, Master Raju's character Babla is the central character of the film. The film shows a child - rebellious and indisciplined - runs away from home and goes through a lot of struggles.

You get a view into the mind of the child and full credit to Gulzar to not playing defensive or playing to the gallery. He portrays children as they truly are, even naughty to the extent that they deserve a scold or spanking at times. The scenes showing them smoking though crossed a line for a family film and could have been avoided.

Otherwise an adventurous, engrossing film with a lot of lessons for growing up children.

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.

Years back, Kitaab was a special kind of movie directed by Gulzar. This is a gloomy and dark story of a boy, who is growing up and he try to understand the world around him. This is a journey of a boy in whole movie... not only the outside but also the inside of a child's psyche. I can't forget the presentation of very famous song in this film by RD Burmun, "Dhanno..." At that time, means 1977 there was a debate everywhere about the parenting and child psychology. This is a very different way that Gulzar presents in his movie. His point of view is entirely different from that concepts that was the the topic of debate in that time. In whole movie director thinks like a child. So you can understand how a child observes the world. A remarkable creation by Gulzar.

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.