Hanuman Da Damdaar: Humour yes, Animation no

Star voiceovers: Salman Khan, Javed Akhtar, Raveena Tandon, Vinay Pathak, Makrand Deshpande, Saurabh Shukla, Chunky Pandey, Kunal Khemu

Rated: 5/10

The animation scores by twisting the story into a modern kind of world with which today’s children will relate. It makes you laugh a lot with very “today” jokes on the kindergarten world. It speaks of technology, it speaks of Google, it also speaks of a whole lot of CGIs that come in handy for the baby Hanuman to fly around the geographical boundaries of the Earth and pick up experiences which slowly and steadily chip away his childlike fears of the unknown. After all, he is Hanuman and is there to save Sita from Ravana, only that is one thing he does not do in this one.

Here he is a child, taken away by a tornado, deposited in a faraway jungle with his lizard chachi and is groomed by a self-interested Garud. The stories behind all the familiar characters from Ramayana are hugely different but engaging.

Only thing wrong with the film, and hugely so, is that the animation quality is from a previous generation and much below the standards today’s children are happy with. Not that we don’t have the wherewithal for a Disney kind of animation so one wonders why the ploys were not used. If it is animation it has to be slick and GenEx, or it will not work, despite all the humour and the good intention. Just another of those summer holidays quickies made in a hurry on a measly budget.

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 4 June, 2017