Hawaa Hawaai

Some movies will impress you to a certain level with its emotional content that you won’t want to blame it for its technical compromises. Hawaa Hawaai from director Amol Gupte is such a film. Mr Gupte who has given us a great teacher student film in the form of Taare Zameen Par tries that formula again, but this time with many emotional differences.

The story revolves around the dream of Arjun Harishchandra Waghmore who is now at Dharavi’s slums with his family. Financial circumstances are so bad that he has to work hard to get that Rs 50 per day salary in a tea stall. The night skating classes in the same area where Arjun sells tea becomes the beginning of the small boy’s desire to be a skater. His tough journey to be that with all the financial hazards in front of him is the soul of this beautifully created film.

Amol Gupte has his favourite terrain revolving around special children. We have seen that in films like TZP and Stanley Ka Dabba. Those movies where special because of their sensible melodrama, practical humour and touching characters. The same features are also there in Hawaa Hawaai in another format. Where Gupte succeeds is in not making a documentary on the miseries of a certain class or on the need to educate children. He has planted a lot of things in his screenplay that will influence the viewer as a part of the film. My eyes were wet when that mother was getting scolded by the doctor for making her boy work that much. Even after being shot on a small scale there was something inspiring about the climax.

Partho Gupte was excellent in his character portrayal. He is that typical village boy with all the ethics and the boy played it very nicely. Applauds to Saqib Saleem for doing this role with all the energy and I do believe that this guy has potential to do some really good characters. Neha Joshi as the mother was really touching. The four kids Salman, Ashfaq, Maaman and Mahesh were also really good. Memorable performance by Makarand Deshpande.

Direction from Amol Gupte was very nice. He doesn’t make things cheesy, but adds these dramas naturally into the story. Gupte once again did the movie using Cannon 7D (or something of that standard). Screenplay as I said includes many layers of miseries in a manner that keeps the movie out a documentary zone. Hilarious scenes were there and also some heart crunching backstories. Cinematography and music were good.

So overall, it’s a sweet and inspiring tale that has characters with depth. It’s a 4/5 for Hawaa Hawaai from my side. Bhaag Arjun Bhaag!