REVIEW: I Am Kalam

BOY WONDER

Debutant director Nila Madhab Panda's I Am Kalam is unusual for one reason alone. It allows a child from a remote corner of the country to idolise, not Amitabh Bachchan (like his older co-worker played by Pitobash does), or Sachin Tendulkar or Shah Rukh Khan, but India's former President APJ Abdul Kalam, a man while being hugely inspirational (particularly for children), isn't the likeliest candidate for the job. We aren't living in times where someone who emphasises 'karma' over 'kismet' and exhorts children to learn their way up in life is likely to find much of a following in a generation growing up on a wholesome diet of glamour and gloss. 

Other than that though, the film takes the utterly predictable, and in that sense boring, route. A gifted little boy who works at a dhaba owned by his benevolent 'uncle' (Gulshan Grover) watches Kalam on television and is so impressed by his words, he discards his nondescript name Chhotu, and starts calling himself Kalam. He picks up whatever books he can and reads, learns foreign languages from the tourists who flock to the dhaba in hoardes and befriends the lonely son of a defunct Maharajah.

The Maharajah cuts a pathetic figure—having converted a part of his haveli into a hotel, he now idles about playing chess and brooding over his worthlessness, while continuing to exert his authority on his staff and family. His little son finds an willing playmate in Kalam and the boys casually discard class barriers to form an easy camaraderie that benefits both—the prince brushes up his Hindi and learns how to ride a camel, and in turn teaches Kalam English and promises to teach him horse-riding.

Both the boys (Harsh Mayar as Kalam and Husaan Saad as the prince) are absolute naturals and Gulshan Grover, Pitobash and Beatrice Ordeix (she plays a French tourist who takes a fancy to Kalam and on whom Grover's character has a huge crush) provide reasonable support. If I Am Kalam has a failing, it's the complete lack of inventiveness both thematically and in terms of treatment—barring one moving scene where a heart-broken Kalam takes his camel far into the desert in the dead of night and strums an anguished beat using pieces of wood.  

You're likely to come away appreciating the film, without being greatly moved by it.

Comments

[Dr. Seshadri Sekhar Chatterjee]

Sucha good movie!!such an inspiring experience!! If media has the duty to inspiring people nothin canot be better than this. Whole india is growing in a rocket speed ..the more speed is in the will and outlook of people. But the apparent glamour n lime light of urbanisation are limited in metro cities only. the sad part of recent trend in movie s that the director(and the viewers ofcourse)are very escapist and let us see just blueish life around us.here in i am kalam..director have broken the barier....