School Corner

 “Bum bum bole, masti mein dole” aur bachon ke liye lots of films bole...

Editors’ picks! We have here some Bollywood films that you can enjoy watching with your kids. Some are light and fun and some more substantial. But they are “clean”, child friendly, well made and in general have timeless appeal. Some are old classics and some are more recent favourites and box-office hits. The best is that they are movies that the whole family can enjoy together.

An interesting recent trend is that there has been a spate of good children’s or child friendly films in the recent few years (Taare Zameen Par, Chak De, My Friend Ganesha etc.). That is why many of these are recent films. The big year was 2007. And these have not been funded by the Indian government to publicise children’s films but are made by the Indian film industry and many have been box-office hits as well. We hope the trend continues and good movies keep delighting Indian kids.

Family movie time! Grab some of these DVDs, get the popcorn, dim the lights, get cosy and have fun together.

And the movies are (not in any particular order):

Chak De (2007)

• Both commercially and critically acclaimed.
• About an Indian girl’s hockey team and their dedicated coach Kabir (played by Shah Rukh Khan), who work hard and succeed despite all odds. The girls are from different states of India.
• Great lessons for the little ones in diligence, perseverance, determination, team work, unity, excellence and the importance of dreams and vision.
• Great inspiration for young girls and boys as well (that girls can do it).
• Basically a movie for adults, but very clean, fun and relevant for the young ones as well.

Taare Zameen Par (2007)

• Both commercially and critically acclaimed. Directed by Aamir Khan. A ground breaking movie. Got many schools, teachers and parents thinking about academic pressures and about having child-centric education.
• About a free spirited 8 year old dyslexic boy Ishaan who is misunderstood by his parents and school and gets into trouble for being different. This continues until an art teacher (played by Aamir Khan) befriends him and is able to understand his problem and is able to help and inspire him.
• This movie made Darsheel Safary (the boy who plays Ishaan) a hot favourite. Also of course kids loved Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan’s haircut in the movie became a big hit with the boys.
• Some kids might get sad in the movie because the boy does go through tough times being pressurized by his parents and the school. But the movie is basically positive, optimistic and inspiring.
• Not to forget the lovely soundtrack and the cute song “Bum Bum Bole” that became a big hit with kids.

My Friend Ganesha (2007)

• About a little boy who is lonely, since his parents are too busy. The family maid takes care of the little boy and inspires him with stories of the saviour Ganesha.  The boy starts having a secret friend called Ganesha the god (an animated character). Ganesha turns things around this dysfunctional family and the boy and Ganesha have tons of fun together.
• Most kids adore this movie. The little boy is cute and endearing.
• Great also for making the kids excited about Indian mythology.

Koi Mil Gaya (2003)

• A Bollywood science fiction movie. A combination of Hollywood films like E.T. and Alien.
• A scientist invents a device and way to communicate with aliens but then villains intervene and bomb his house. His wife and son survive. But the son called Rohit (played by the star Hrithik Roshan) is developmentally challenged and even though is a young man looks and acts like a young boy and is in the same class as young boys. Rohit comes across the device his father has invented and by accident sends a message to aliens in space and then a spaceship comes with aliens but by accident, an alien boy gets left behind. Rohit and his friends keep this alien boy a secret and call him Jadoo. The movie abounds with banter and adventures of Jadoo and Rohit’s gang of pals. Jadoo helps Rohit with some special powers. The rest is for you to check out. This summary is to give you a feel for the movie.
• The sequel to this movie is called Krrish and in this Rohit with special powers goes to avenge his father’s death.
• Hrithik Roshan became a cult star with kids after Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. The famous Krrish mask was on every boy’s favourite toy list in 2008.

Haathi Mere Saathi (1971)

• An old classic with the famous song “Chal chal chal, mere haathi”.
• Story about friendship between a young orphan called Raju who has to perform with 4 elephants for his livelihood. Raju grows up to be Rajesh Khanna (the bollywood star).The movie has ups and downs with the elephants.
• Kids love it.

Rani Aur Laal Pari (1975)

• Story revolves around a young orphan girl called Rani who is brought up by her cruel uncle and aunt. She gets befriended by lal pari or the red fairy and the adventures follow and the lal pari helps Rani.
• Quite the Indian style Cinderella.
• The movie was a big hit when it was released. It caught the imagination of all the little girls and all of them wanted to dress like lal pari in their fancy dress competitions or for their birthday parties.

Hanuman (2005)

• India’s first major commercial animated family movie.
• Box office hit.
• Kids love the baby Hanuman song - “Akdam Bakdam...” where baby Hanuman is flying and prancing. Also they love the cute incident where baby Hanuman mistakes the sun to be a mango.
• The latter part becomes a little dense for younger kids and the Hindi is very shudh and complex even for Hindi speaking kids. But overall an enjoyable film that tells this mythological story in a fun manner.
• The baby Hanuman was a big hit. There is a lot of cute baby Hanuman merchandise being sold including the cuddly baby Hanuman stuffed toys.

Iqbal (2005)

• A very inspiring story about a deaf-mute village boy called Iqbal who wants to join the Indian Cricket Team as a fast bowler. Iqbal conquers all odds and is able to realize his dream. There is also an interesting relationship between the boy and his self-adopted teacher Nasiruddin Shah who is shown as a recovering alcoholic but gives him great inspiring fundas for cricket.
• Budding cricket fans love the cricket theme of the movie.
• There are some cute and endearing scenes between Iqbal and his kid sister who helps him from time to time.

Mr. India (1997)

• A Bollywood science fiction action-packed comedy made by the talented filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor.
• This movie features this gadget that makes people invisible. That will surely delight the young ones.
• The actor Anil Kapoor is the ultimate comical and endearing bumpkin (a sort of anti-superhero) who runs a home for orphans. There is also the famous Sri Devi with her Hawa Hawaii song sequence with it’s Charlie Chaplin overtones. Amrish Puri is the infamous villain Mogambo spouting the famous dialogue “Mogambo khush hua”.

Makdee (2002)

• An award winning film that revolves around twin sisters who are opposite to each other. One is goody goody and the other is naughty.
• The talented actress Shahbana Azmi plays the witch called Makdee in a haunted house. The twins enter the haunted house by mistake and Makdee transforms one of them to a hen and the adventure starts.

A fun filled movie for the kids.