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Hawaa Hawaai Review: Ek-Lava And His Wings

May 10, 2014 | By

Amole Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai is one of the most innocent films I have seen in years.

hawaa hawaaiEven though I have always been a hefty kid seeing people skate amused me. My skinny brother on the other hand was actually good at it.

I remember a race that had all big guns in the lead but my skinny brother somehow manged to come along thrashing everyone of them. Was it shear luck or was it his ability to be successful at everything?

My question was finally answered today after 15 years. Skates are not only a single shoe on a pair of roller wheels. It has a feeling that makes you want to fly and in the meantime gives you an earnest to be the first one at the destination.

Amole Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai is one of the most innocent films I have seen in years. Arjun Harishchandra Waghmare (Partho Gupte) is a champion. The only thing is, he doesn’t know it yet. He has lost his father (Makarand Deshpande), a cotton farmer. Even though he was his inspiration one way or the other the death has caused him to be an underdog.

The little kid who has now shifted to Mumbai, the city that not only makes you dream but also the city that kills a million dreams and forces you to sell and wash the ‘cutting-chai ke glasses’, for instance. The film is about this little kid who unlike anyone his age wishes to learn to skate and probably be the best at it.

While the film has a array of things that form the core of this emotionally stunning film. Mr. Amole Gupte conceals a very subtle subject that has not been talked about by most of the people who are calling this an underwhelming effort.

He peals off emotions one by one, the first being the adults being reluctant about the plethora of problems that a child has to face. Once we hit adulthood the child’s problem seem non-existent to us.

The film is about this little kid who unlike anyone his age wishes to learn to skate and probably be the best at it.

The film is about this little kid who unlike anyone his age wishes to learn to skate and probably be the best at it.

I have always been one of those people who never (read: Never) buys anything from the vendors on the road. While a lot of movies show about their situation, Amole Gupta shows their hard-work and their earnestness to earn a living. I would most definitely buy a thing or two the next time around.

If you peel off the penultimate layer of this sound script you will also witness the bigger questions about how society alienates rich kids from the poor ones. Amole Gupte beautifully includes a scene where the protagonist does a stunt just to be witnessed by the richer flock of people. The vividness of the protagonist and his friends to be noticed does seem out of place, but essential.

Being a teacher I can understand the feelings that ‘Lucky Sir’ has when the little chimes of joy dance around him and welcome his comeback after an injury. Even though he has a broken leg he shows up to the parking lot where he could teach his little hearts to fly. To live their dreams and conquer the world.

"Jab main inn chote bacchon ko skate par udkar medal jeetate dekhta hun na dada, My world comes alive. It's like giving them wings."

“Jab main inn chote bacchon ko skate par udkar medal jeetate dekhta hun na dada, my world comes alive. It’s like giving them wings.”

The teacher also has a dream. With a film filled with kids, the teachers dream seems the smallest. He says.

“Jab main inn chote bacchon ko skate par udkar medal jeetate dekhta hun na dada, my world comes alive. It’s like giving them wings.”

The little moments in the film are so very special. One of Arjun’s friend goes up to a rich kid and asks her the rate of her roller-blades. ’30K’ she says.

The friend goes up to Arjun and says ’30 key hain bas’, he goes to his boss and asks for 30 rupees. I was deeply moved by that scene. Only when I tried wiping off the tear Amole Gupte brought in a section of the friends who couldn’t buy a skate for him decide to make him one. “Dost ko champion bannae ka hai,” the friend said. I smiled. I smiled and I almost cried a few times.

I call this film the most innocent film because the film has no villains. Even the burger eating fat rich kid is not a meanie. Amole Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai will surely be called predictable and ‘seen that’. But it’s the big heart that the film poses that makes it a sincere effort.

Everything in the film seem genuine even the mother who furiously gives in a death-certificate of her husband instead of the birth-certificate of her kid.

Played by Gupte’s son Partho, Arjun is a kid who has a constant smile on his face. Even in the times when he just drifts off to sleep without eating his meal.

Even when he works from morning to night and is payed 42 ruppes. Partho is an undeniably cute kid who acts his heart out. The other kids that surround him are equally good.

Saqib Saleem is one of the most talented actors around. He dons the character quite aptly. Be it the brother to his ‘Amreekan keeda brother‘ or the ‘flirty boy‘ to the girl. He excels in the central role of being a superhero to the kid who wants to fly. 

Final Verdict

As Arjun says, Amole Gupte’s film is ‘peshal‘, ‘Ek-Lava’ and his wings are stronger then the societies tendency of not noticing the dreams of the poor flock. Drag every kid and adult who has ever dreamed of being a somebody to Hawaa Hawaai.

Shikhar Verma is a Member of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group. The opinions shared by the reviewers are their personal opinions and does not reflect the collective opinion of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group or Silhouette Magazine.

Pics: Publicity movie stills of Hawaa Hawaai

 Hawaa Hawaai – Official Theatrical Trailer

Creative Writing

Whether you are new or veteran, you are important. Please contribute with your articles on cinema, we are looking forward for an association. Send your writings to amitava@silhouette-magazine.com

Shikhar Verma is a Movie Critic at JAM Magazine. Lives, eats and smokes Movies. Blogs at God's Unwanted Children
All Posts of Shikhar Verma

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Silhouette Magazine publishes articles, reviews, critiques and interviews and other cinema-related works, artworks, photographs and other publishable material contributed by writers and critics as a friendly gesture. The opinions shared by the writers and critics are their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of Silhouette Magazine. Images on Silhouette Magazine are posted for the sole purpose of academic interest and to illuminate the text. The images and screen shots are the copyright of their original owners. Silhouette Magazine strives to provide attribution wherever possible. Images used in the posts have been procured from the contributors themselves, public forums, social networking sites, publicity releases, YouTube, Pixabay and Creative Commons. Please inform us if any of the images used here are copyrighted, we will pull those images down.