Bird Idol- Review

In the U.S., the animation industry has come up with some amazing films. In India, the animation industry is still exploring and grappling to gain a foothold.

Bird Idol, directed by Jyotin Goel, is aimed at the kids primarily, but the story featuring birds, is very Bollywoodish. Bird idol has it all too - lovers eloping, their kid winning a music-based show, his love story, the crooked villain and of course, loads of songs.

I strongly feel that you should view animation films exactly the way a kid approaches it. Just keep your thinking caps aside and chances are, you might fall for its charm. Bird idol has some endearing moments, but despite a running time of approx. 100 minutes, it looks like a lengthy exercise. That's because the film abounds in songs and some unwanted scenes and since they [the songs] aren't promoted at all, it reverses the impact created by a few interesting sequences.

Most importantly, does Bird Idol offer more than what's being offered round-the-clock on television vis-a-vis animation shows? Will its target audience [the kids] prefer the animation film over popular animation shows on TV? The answer to both the questions is, unfortunately, negative.

Bird Idol creates a fantasy world where the birds of Mumbai are as human as the people who inhabit it. They go to school, watch TV, go out on dates and yes, even watch reality shows, especially the musical show known for making stars overnight - Bird Idol.

However, as of now, the birds still play bird music, full of chirps, tweets and the like. A group of four friends [Hummi, Surili, Chidi and Tuktuk] introduce a sound never heard before in the bird world - human music. The music is a hit among the birds and it catapults Hummi's group to stardom overnight.

But the judges, old-time establishment musicians, begin to worry. What will happen to them? They hatch a plan to sabotage Hummi and his music before it's too late. Will they succeed? And what does the introduction of human music mean to the bird world?

The animation quality is top notch and the dubbing is in sync. But the problem is that the viewer doesn't carry the characters home, like I did when I watched Hanuman.

On the whole, Bird Idol is watchable in parts, but the lack of awareness will make the effort go unnoticed.

Directed by - Jyotin Goel