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The
film begins with a disclaimer stating that Return of
Hanuman is not a sequel to any film made before. This
animated film is superb and technically dazzling.
The story
begins with a vibrantly and remarkably picturised
narrative about how Rahu and Ketu came into existence.
Then it shows why man himself is the biggest evil or the
impact of pollution leading to global crisis. There is a
battle between Gods and the devils. Lord Hanuman
requests Narad Muni to convince Lord Brahma to send him
to earth. While Lord Brahma is most apprehensive, he
eventually takes a softer line, but Lord Hanuman is made
to sign a contract, which has several do's and don'ts. .
The focus shifts to a small village in present-day
India. Our baby Hanuman is rechristened as Maruti, who
is now a boy enough to get admitted in school as a
mortal so that he can play football with the local
boys... Here our Maruti bumps into the customary hapless
kid, Minkoo, soft target of the bullies of his
neighbourhood, always ridiculed by his friends.
Predictably, Maruti supports him and makes the bad boys
eat dust. In the meantime, danger lurks around in the
form of scheming bandits and Shukracharya's immortal
creations -- the half serpent, half-human, Rahu and Ketu
threatening to cause the end of the world.
Quite an impressive first half where it's innovative to
merge mythology with the contemporary and a number of
sequences. But the film drags in the post-interval
portions and a long-drawn climax only dilutes the impact
of several interesting sequences.
The
animation quality is technically okay keeping in mind
that its fully made in India. Commendable. Quite
enjoyable in parts, one of the prime reasons being that
the baby Hanuman in this movie is cute and adorable.
Sequences depicting his voracious appetite as also with
his timid friend Minku are quite enjoyable.
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There are some ridiculous moments like when a little
squirrel trying to flirt with Hanuman where a wise old
squirrel telling her to lay off because Hanuman "Brahmchari
hai. Bandar jaat hai." Then Chitragup sits browsing on his
laptop on the site - maneka dot com, theres also the
Sholay references of Gabbar Singh, voice-over clones of
Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjeev Kumar and Raaj Kumar - which the
grownups can identify with. But such moments should have
been best be avoided by the director if he had the kids in
mind.
Narada and Hanuman communicate in a typical mumbaiya filmi
style, a gorilla modelled on our Shahrukh Khan comes to
little Hanuman's rescue, there is also a vicious bandit in
the orchards somewhat like Gabbar Singh of Sholay, and
amazingly the little Hanuman dodging past an array of
bullets a la Keanu Reeves in Matrix.
When Narada is not snooping
around Lord Indra's adobe he breaks into a jig, strumming
his sitar, fervently chanting OSO, while Lord Indra spends
quality time with Menaka - a divine apsara,.
Return of Hanuman attempts to blend the modern with the
mythological to impart the golden lesson - Good prevails
over evil. In doing this the outcome is a jumbled animated
film which is tried to be enlightening or comic or
entertaining??
While "Hanuman" was a pure mythological film, "Return of
Hanuman" merges mythology with the present-day kalyug ki
duniya. So no point comparing the two. Return of Hanuman
is enjoyable in parts. If you're a kid or have a kid
hidden in you, this one's for you!
-
Amar Jeet
CAST & CREDITS
Return of
Hanuman (Animation)
Banner: Percept Picture Company, Toonz Animation
India
Directed by:Anurag Kashyap
Producer: Vinu Thomas , Sumit Kumar
Writing credits: Anurag Kashyap
Original Music by Tapas Relia
Visual Effects by: Devrishi Chatterjee
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