It’s a single filmi formula that has traditionally been failsafe. Herd a bunch of frisky and fancy-free youngsters together, throw them into an emotional whirligig that pushes them to raise the banner of revolt against insensitive adults and permit the ensuing tussle do the rest. It makes for good, unadulterated fun.

Right up your street? Then Chillar Party is often a must-watch for you. It squeezes inside a quiet message even as it portrays the world purely during the gawky-eyed issue of view of children. The film strikes a perfect balance among the a couple of poles of the script. Well, almost.

Written and directed by the duo of Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari and bankrolled by UTV Spotboy, Chillar Party got superstar Salman Khan so excited that he came on board as co-producer well following the film had got off the starting blocks. Excellent judgment – Chillar Party is indeed a film worth backing every which way.

It moves during the light-hearted on the thought-provoking and during the rib-tickling on the tear-jerking without losing its equilibrium.

As Chillar Party opens, we are introduced a single by a single on the feisty gang of innocents around whom the plot revolves. It is possibly as adorable a gallery of characters as any you'll ever encounter inside a Bollywood movie.

The child actors are outright naturals. Don’t be surprised if quite a few of these names crop up on film credits for years to come.

The Chillar Party boys live in Chandan Nagar colony, a residential complex which is shaken up somewhat as soon as Fatka, a spunky boy who washes cars to your living, arrives in their midst with a canine companion, Bhidu.

Fatka and his dog are outsiders in a lot more methods than a single – they belong on the wrong side of the social divide – but following the very first run-ins of the boys of Chandan Nagar, he and his pooch are accepted as an integral component of the chillar party.

But, particularly for the dog, life isn’t incredibly as effortless as it may appear to these small pranksters: a mean-minded politician decides how the locality is in require of becoming swept clean of stray mutts and Bhidu is immediately targeted. The boys swing into action and launch a ‘save Bhidu’ battle during the face of grave odds.

This is often a confrontation during the traditional good-pitted-against-evil mould, and it plays out to good effect on numerous levels: youngsters versus adults, self-seekers versus do-gooders and, over all, the uplifting power of innocence and actual emotion up against the vitiating force of corrosive cynicism.

If Chillar Party works for the most component as an entertainer, it is primarily as it manages to hold a tight leash on its narrative flow and the antics of the children. Simplicity has its uses and should you know exactly how to milk it for the advantage, you’ve got a winner on your hands.

Is Chillar Party, then, a perfect children’s film? Saying that would be a bit of the stretch. The characters are less nuanced folks than recognisable types, etched out and christened on the basis of their defining traits.

So what we have is often a boy referred to as Second Hand who struts around in borrowed clothes and another (he answers on the name of Shaolin) that dreams of being a martial arts movie star a la Jackie Chan. A know-all – he is referred to as Encyclopaedia – has his distinct opposite during the gang’s incorrigible simpleton, Mottu alias Silencer. During the world in accordance with Chillar Party, boys will be boys!

Through the entire first half, the writer-director duo holds the proceedings at a level which is totally in sync of the unpretentious spirit of the film. During the run-up on the climax, however, the film comes precariously around tying itself up in knots as the child-like aura it builds up begins to teeter on the edge of childishness. Mercifully, it stays on its feet and doesn’t topple over. For that alone the film deserves at least three stars.

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