BAL GANESH
Ardha Ladoo Chorya
By Vishal Verma

Rating:- * * & 1/2

The most loved Hindu deity is back. Bal Ganesh dircted by Pankaj Sharma under the banner of Shemaroo Entertainment is Bollywood’s fifth attempt at animation technically, if you take ‘Bhaggmati - The Queen of Fortunes’ and ‘My Friend Ganesha’ which were part live, part animation. But the leader ‘Hanuman’ directed by V.G. Samant and Milind Ukey still leads the way and stands out as the best animation film till date in Bollywood.

We have this pesky habit of comparing ourselves with Hollywood and I am not an exception. So I habitually follow my genes and come to an analysis.

Hollywood has gone remarkably better and better from THE LION KING to FINDING NEMO to SHARK TALE to SHREK, Hollywood has produced qualitative animation films most successfully.

But alas! After a historic start like ‘Hanuman’ we all expected the same thing will follow, as Hollywood as always been a source of inspiration to our desi filmmakers but sadly things are somewhat deteriorating over here.

Hanuman still remains to be challenged and bettered as far as the animation factors are concerned. What makes animation films tick are two factors: The animation should be of high quality and of course, the content.

In Bal Ganesha the animation is just above average. Somewhere good, somewhere just average. The colourtone during the climax could have been bettered.

Content wise Bal Ganesh is interesting, but it lacks high quality animation. It tells the story of Lord Ganesha’s birth, his childhood in Himalayas, how his tooth got broken, formation of Kaveri river, Kuber’s episode (this will be loved by the kids the most). His pranks, his dancing, his ice-skating (with rock music being played in the background) his passion for ladoos, brother Karthik ‘s battle with the demon in the climax, all this narrated by Musak Raj, Lords ganesh’s Savari.

The problem over here is it lacks grip and is not connected.

Lord Ganesha has been the most respected, loved and followed God amongst Hindu’s and has inspired generations. In this animation movie, a couple of sequences are deftly handled, especially in the second hour. Namely, The Kuber episode and the famous Parikrama of the world which is blended with an emotional fiber. The music is also tuneful and the simple wordings are easy to grasp. The voiceovers are in sync.

On the whole Bal Ganesh is not at par with ‘Hanuman’ but still has its moments. It’s been released during the vacation season but has some stiff competition as 3 movies are also lined up for release on the same date.

Whether it will be able to bless kids aged between six and sixty remains doubtful.