Kaccha Limboo Movie Review

Don't we all have some great memories from good ol' school days? Well, KACCHA LIMBOO is a sheer nostalgia trip to relive them.

The director of BHEJA FRY, Sagar Ballary, traverses a new path by attempting a new genre (children) this time with KACCHA LIMBOO. Mind you, it's not a piece of cake to make a good children's film. It has to connect with the children as well as parents who come to watch the film with them. And KACCHA LIMBOO does that to a great extent.

The film traces the life of 13-year-old overweight teen Shambhu (Taher Sutterwala). Like every other kid of his age, he loves his PS2, gets attracted to girls and lands in trouble every now and then. He is desperately trying to fit in and be a part of a group, comprising of his school mates. He even upsets PP, his sole good friend for the group. But the school mates consider him to be a loser and give him no bhaav.

Back home, he's unable to connect to his father (Atul Kulkarni) and thinks that his mother (Sarika) has become very 'artificial' post their second baby. A minute incident in Shambhu's life gets snowballed into a humongous problem for him. Unable to handle the pressure, he runs away to a nearby fisherman colony, where he befriends a spunky kid Vitthal (Chinmay Kambli). In each other they try to find out the solutions of their distressed lives.

Sagar Ballary's script and direction is spot on in the first half. The slice-of-life moments in the school life are a delight to watch. Be it the kids celebrating in class after an announcement of the school being closed due to heavy rains warning by the Meteorological Department, or Shambhu trying to copy his parent's signature in his school calendar, they maintain that smile on your face. Also, there are many hilarious moments that have you in splits.

The problem lies in the second half, as the film takes a complete U-turn. The plot moves away from the school and the narrative crumples. It is a complete drag from there. The absurd and abrupt climax is reminiscent of a World Cinema film. The track of the teacher played by Iravati Harshe is poorly ended. There is a stark contrast in both the halves, which is very hard to believe.

Parixit Warrier's cimenatography is good. Editing by Suresh Pai could have been better. Amardeep Nijjer's music is decent. The dialogues are very catchy and real.

Taheer Sutrawala is absolutely natural and delivers an excellent performance. Chinmay Kambli is exceptional. Sarika performs well. Atul Kulkarni is passable. Vinay Pathak's cameo is entertaining.

With an impressive first half and an equally disappointing second half, KACCHA LIMBU ends up leaving a very sour taste. All's not well that doesn't end well.