Chintu Ka Birthday: Review

Chintu ka Birthday is a film made with warmth and compassion, and that reflects in every scene of the film.

The Story

The film is set in Baghdad in 2004, when Saddam Hussain’s reign ended and Iraq was under the control of US Forces. It’s about an Indian family stuck in Iraq in the middle of a war. The story is about a kid named Chintu, all he wants is to have a decent birthday celebration which he has been promised from the past 2-3 years. All things were going as per plan, when out of nowhere their party preparations were interrupted by two US Army men. Chintu’s family, after being heckled by the soldiers, gathered their courage and decided that whatever may happen today, they are gonna celebrate Chintu’s birthday. 

Source: Zee5

If you think I’ve spoilt anything for you, no I’ve not. They literally reveal the entire plot in the trailer itself. Because, the plot is not the film’s concern. It’s the experience that will touch your heart. The film makes you think about larger questions through small instances- how futile wars are, how the politics at the global scales impact the lives of ordinary people. 

Forming an opinion about the good guys and the bad guys seem very easy on the outside, but at the ground level, it’s everybody suffering- no matter whose side they are on. The setting is confined to a single house, but you never feel bored. At no point do you see large tanks or bomb explosions. The budgets might not have allowed that too. But the makers never compromise on the story due to their budget. Since the story didn’t have a lot of substance to it, the decision to keep at an hour and a half long works well. The film keeps you hooked throughout.

The Cast

Cast is something, apart from the skillful makers, that surely works in the film’s favour. The benign kid, Chintu played by Vedant Chibber, brings the innocence that the film required. Vinay Pathak and his portrayal of Madan Tiwary, as an honest and humble person, bring this very unlikely story to a point of believability. 

Source: And TV

Tillotama Shome played Chintu’s mother. There is this one scene where you see her character singing a song. In that scene, you would feel the real emotions of the film: the tragic world in which this innocent family is stuck. Seema Pahwa who plays the Nani and Bisha Chaturvedi did the best they could in the little space their characters were provided with. One thing that might bother you is that the US soldiers had no real dynamics to them. They were uninteresting as characters.

Source: The Indian Express

The Production

Chintu ka Birthday is the debut production of the comedy company All India Bakchod under the banner AIB First Draft. The film was denied production by several of the big production houses. It was then that the AIB Boys- Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhatt, Ashish Shakya and Gursimran Khamba realised that they should produce the film on their own. They gathered the little money they could to get the film made. 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

The film is directed by Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh, two talented brothers who have made their way into the film industry through years of struggle. It is quite evident from the film itself, that they have a passionate understanding of the craft of storytelling and filmmaking.

Source: India Forums

 

The film will make you realise how drifted we are from the humans that we are supposed to be. The makers have ensured a pretty thoughtful experience through the course of the film. 

 

I would rate it four stars out of five.

 

-Hardik Jaimini