Cast: Vinay Pathak, Tillotama Shome, Seema Pahwa, Bisha Chaturvedi, Vedant Raj Chibber
Director: Satyanshu Singh and Devanshu Kumar
Rating: 3.5/5
If you want a poignant sweet tale amid this pandemic, then watching ‘ Chintu Ka Birthday’ is a must thing to do. Chintu Ka Birthday starts premiering from 5th June on Zee5 and was successfully running. It is a family entertainer.
The tale of the film was all set at the back of the war invaded in Iraq in April 2004 and almost a year of the war was completed when America led their Allied forces, Saddam Hussain has captured and was awaiting trial. A migrant five member’s Bihari family illegally stuck in war-torn Iraq, the head of the family Madan Tiwari (played by Vinay Pathak) with his wife Sudha Tiwary (Tillotama Shome), mother-in-law (Seema Pahwa), daughter Lakshmi (Bisha Chaturvedi), and son Chintu (Vedant Raj Chibber). The cute kid Chintu is the center of attraction of the story. The family lives in Baghdad and they failed to make till the Indian embassy to believe that they have an Indian passport. Chintu was afraid more like anything that like his previous birthday, this year might be too ruined again. But, despite all the mishaps his family tried everything to bring a smile on their kid’s face and make his birthday memorable.
But, the movie was basically the importance of joy, togetherness, and happiness for a family those who stuck in their house during a countrywide military invasion. The story is not only the celebration of a child’s birthday party it is also the tale of good vs bad, how one’s life can be destroyed due to illegal immigration. As we all know that this film took almost a decade in the making, and also it won the Viewer’s Choice Award at the Jagran Film Festival last year. Despite all the odd, the director duo Satyanshu Singh and Devanshu Kumar did a splendid job in their debut feature film. They showcased the storyline from a dad’s point of view with great love and care. It was really appreciable that how they carried their thought throughout the film. But, apart from all of this, the film was predictable at many points, which caused a lack of attention at some point.
If we talk about the actor’s performance, all are fabulous in their respective way. Vinay Pathak as usual at finest in his job, he is one of the modest actors we have. His role as a Chintu’s father as effortless as it can be, like every other middle-class family boy he is his child’s hero. Apart from all the disasters, he managed to keep a smile on his face and make his family laugh. Despite everything, but after ‘Mentalhood’ Tillotama Shome surprised us yet again with her variation of acting skills. She played the distinctive middle-class wife, cum mother, in this movie and looked quite tangible for this particular role. Seema Pahwa and Disha Chaturvedi did a decent job with their acting, so Khalid Massou as an Iraqi landlord. Even Reginald L. Barnes and Nate Scholz as two American soldiers nicely portrayed the act, their difficulty to choose what is best between them to perform their duty or humanity. But, the main attraction is Vedant as Chintu, you will be mesmerized to see how he copes with his role every time he appears on the screen.
The director duo depicts a moderate storyline that can touch our heart despite being it’s not so required lengthy timeline of the movie, probably the only flaw in this eighty minutes’ tale. However, ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’ yet another ordinary story that came with a not so ordinary way. The films show that even small joys of life will be so precious that can help keep you connected with your loved ones even you are in a jeopardy.
Kudos to the maker and Zee5 that they bring this such a heartwarming content to the forefront. The last but not the least, this movie did a fantastic job to win our hearts anyway and it is utmost medicine to your melancholy.
Written by: Abir Majumder
