Bollywood films have many ‘types’ – the ‘Salman Khan’ variety, the Shetty-esque action flicks, the quintessential masala, the Karan Johar brand of romance, the grand Bhansali canvas and now for the latest – the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ brigade!
We have had Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and more recently Nila Madhab Panda’s Halkaa. The films have picked up the cudgels against open defecation. Well-intentioned they may be, the formulaic trajectory of the story prove to be their undoing.
This week’s release, Mere Pyare Prime Minister introduces us to Kanha, a young boy on a noble mission. He wants to build a toilet for his mother. Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, along with writers Manoj Mairta and Hussain Dalal, try to further adorn the bare plot with as many social issues they can fit into it.
So there is the whole angle about water scarcity and illegal tanker mafia in the slum Kanha stays in. His mother, played by actress Anjali Patil, is a single parent trying to hustle up a living doing embroidery.
Kanha (Om Kanojia) and his friends sadly don’t go to school as they try to earn a quick buck selling drugs. The opening scene has an NGO worker getting the kids to distribute condoms. Somewhere in the middle of the film, there is talk about conducting medical tests to check for sexually transmitted diseases among slum dwellers.
Some of these themes are dealt with efficiency and boldness which is refreshing but it also gives a sense of the film being pulled into many directions. After the constipated start, everyone and everything seem to be going through the motions (pun intended).
Om Kanojia leads the bachcha brigade, as he and his delightful friends even manage a trip to Delhi to help with their toilet-building plans. Squatting on their haunches, out in the open, trying to relieve themselves as they make big plans to meet the Prime Minister is all very well.
However, the over simplistic climax where all roads lead to PM, somehow seems more in tune with the election-year frenzy than a well conceived screenplay. Actors Anjali Patil and Rasika Agashe are effective in their limited roles and the kids are particularly free-spirited and impressive.
Mere Pyare Prime Minister ends up feeling like a government-funded campaign on sochalay than a compelling story that speaks to us directly.
This one gets 2 Quints out of 5!
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