Looking at the title of the movie, it gives us the feels of an innocent child protagonist story revolving around the events leading up to a birthday celebration. Well, that’s what I thought when I first saw the poster of the movie. But I wondered, what are these two gentlemen in US Army uniform doing in this movie? And I saw the names of producers, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, and the AIB connection got me excited and I knew, there was something unexpected coming, an unusual and thought provoking narrative. That is how I was first introduced to “Chintu ka Birthday”.
Chintu ka Birthday, is an Indian comedy-drama, directed by Satyanshu Singh and Devanshu Kumar, and starring a very talented cast including Vinay Pathak, Tillotama Shome, Seema Pahwa and Vedant Chibber in lead roles. The entire incident is presented in a house where the Indian family lives in the city of Saddam Hussein, Baghdad, Iraq. The backstory is narrated beautifully, with cartoon animation discussing the sensitive and depressing issues in a very subtle manner during Saddam’s reign in Baghdad, and how their family shifted and how they got stuck in a warzone after the deployment of the US Army in Iraq.
The day is very special for the Tiwary family, especially for Chintu, it’s his 6th birthday. He couldn’t celebrate his earlier birthday because of US Army intervention, but his father has all the plans of celebrating his son’s birthday on a grand scale and do whatever they missed out on. Lakshmi, Chintu’s sister has a surprise planned for him, while his grandma is excited to make him some Kheer, and there’s a sense of joy in the family. The entire family is positive and looking forward to the celebration. The landlord, Mahdi bhai, also joins them in the preparation and is shown as a supportive and heartwarming character with a tragic past. Little does the family know what’s about to happen. There is a blast nearby and everything goes numb, and out of nowhere, there’s two US Army officers knocking on the door. Will the family be able to celebrate Chintu’s birthday with all the chaos?
Coming to the technical aspects of the movie, the first thing that works for this storyline is the run-time, which is just about 1.5 hours, and thus appealing to both Indian as well western audiences. The emotions of being helpless and constant underlying struggle to get back home is beautifully presented. The acting by all the characters is believable and frankly, even the American soldiers are believable (doesn’t happen quite often). The performance by Vinay Pathak as Madan Tiwary and Tillotama Shome as Sudha Tiwary is top notch as expected. Seema Pahwa weaves her magic with “Nani”, the sister, Lakshmi, though has a limited time on screen, she leaves her mark and the show-stopper, Chintu aka Vedant Chibber is adorable with his body language, his diction and especially him speaking Arabic is something commendable. Overall, the cast has done a fine job. The narrative is very intense and you feel the underlying emotion of the family and what they are going through, even though, there isn’t much revealed. The cinematography is simple, yet powerful, and the score is minimal and used only when required, which adds to the natural setting of the film.
Watch it with your family and friends, as this movie is worth every second of your time. The concept is new and appealing and it won’t disappoint you. And lastly, just a confession, Vinay sir, we need to see a lot more of you!
Cinema Central 