RETURN OF HANUMAN
WITH FOOTBALL, GABBAR FOUL & AN EMPTY BOWL
By Vishal Verma

Rating:

What is it?
Anurag Kashyap believes & thinks different. So here also in animation flick he tries to entertain every age in a children’s film. But alas! He succeeds in bits & pieces & further they all occur during the first half. Post intermission, the movie is boring, events & situations appeared to be forced and on the top of that the climax never ends.

A perfect example of a delicious starter spoiled by uncanny meal in the end. The audience leaves the theatre starving for entertainment required in an animation flick.

one think I would like to mention – though this movie starts with a disclaimer stating that its not a sequel to any and a movie on its own, but if anyone doesn’t recollects or the flashes of the brilliant ‘Hanuman’ fails to appear in his/her mind, then I must admit that he/she must be some avatar from the heaven.

Anyway, this monkey deity is totally different from the previous and it makes me wonder why?.
The previous one was mythological, whereas this one is based in the world of sleek wheels, designer phones and palm tops and strangely we don’t see any of those. Oh yeah! Was one in the heaven – Maharaj Chitragupt’s compatible PC.

Here hanuman is cute and lovable, he flies all round the world like a superman, makes the statue of liberty swing and poor spidey stumble, captures Osamas and Ibhrahims in one net. But hello! It doesn’t go long as its all in only one song.

Animation by Toonz is in and out of the tune of the film and doesn’t strike the perfect chord as it was in the previous.

Oops, I am sorry, I again started complaining. Kya karoo, shama karoo bhagwan, mein koi avatar thode hi huh who to bhagwan aap hai jo is kalyug mein on a sudden impulse, world bhraman karte hai and seeing kids enjoying themselves, apni wish Brahma ko express karte hai, Narad muni ko blackmail kar ke ki prabhu maujhe phir se kid bana do.

So, Brahma agrees and Bajrangbali is born to a pundit and his wife, Shiela.

Holding the cutest kid in the world, hanuman earthly parents instantly realize that is no ordinary child, but an avatar of lord Hanuman and hence he is named Maruti.

Maruti is different from the other kids. He begins walking by the time he is one month old and talking by the time he is three months old. The one thing that troubles his parents the most is his insatiable appetite! Kalyug mein aate hi aap chatore ho gaye bhagvan, yeh Anurag ki Lila hai yah toh phir aap ki, yeh toh Brahma hi Jaane ya Maa Saraswati.

Anyway we jump further, Maruti starts going to school and immediately makes friends, while setting the record straight for the bullies. Many wild & zany escapades follow, as Maruti cannot seems to keep away from trouble. En route, he manages to get the better of the bad guys, who hatch a plan to capture him. They manage to capture him but they have not reckoned with Maruti’s friends around world.

Maruti’s rescue sets off another chain of events, which finally snowballs towards fulfilling Shukhracharya evil prophecy, made millions of years ago….

The fate of humankind now rests on the shoulders of young Maruti…. Told in an rather unconvincing never ending climax.

What to look out for?
The first half has its entertaining moments and voice over clones from SRK, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan and hey … was it Raaj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan. Anyway it was entertaining for children at heart.

What not?
Forced situations, unconvincing and boring end. What’s that pollution’s nabi, kidnapped, the sadhu, Mother Nature, pralay and all? Never established. Nahi samaj mein aaya Anurag Uncle.

Conclusion: May find it disappointing if you have watched the previous and have high expectations… My God again I started comparing. Sorry Hanumanji, you returned but not with a bang to this bhakt of bollywood cinema.