Hawaa
Hawaai
featuring
Partho
Gupte,
Saqib
Saleem,
Makrand
Deshpande,
and
Neha
Joshi
which
is
written
and
directed
by
Amole
Gupte
is
a
film
that
must
be
seen
by
every
person
young
or
old
who
has
ever
dreamt.
Hawaa
Hawaai
never
lets
you
down.
Sure
it
has
its
conclaves
of
concession
to
populism,
like
a
sports
coach
on
a
wheelchair
(very
chic!)
who
seems
to
have
watched
too
many
Hollywood
films.
But
you
welcome
these
very
endearing
attempts
to
communicate
the
film's
theme
on
the
right
to
dream
in
a
language
that's
accessible
to
a
mass
audience.
Deeply
inspirational
it
picks
an
easygoing,
jaunty,
light
and
supple
tone
of
narration
so
that
the
audience
never
feels
the
weight
of
the
message.
The
journey
of
little
Arjun
Harishchandra
Waghmare,
played
with
effortless
candour
by
Partho,
from
rural
Maharashtra
to
the
heart
of
Mumbai
city
is
mapped
with
astonishing
fluidity
and
conviction.
Very
early
in
this
wonderful
film
we
see
the
extraordinarily
talented
young
hero
Partho
Gupte
in
prayer
with
his
screen-father,
played
by
the
redoubtable
Makarand
Deshpande.
Immediately,
you
sense
you
are
in
the
midst
of
an
exceptionally
serene,
nurturing
and
rewarding
work
of
art.
Writer-director
Amole
Gupte
looks
at
the
life
of
the
fringe
people
in
the
city
with
a
huge
amount
of
compassion.
Here
is
an
artiste
who
happens
to
be
a
filmmaker.
He
is
not
the
least
fearful
of
stepping
into
the
streets
of
the
uncaring
city
looking
for
empathy
and
compassion
in
the
unlikeliest
of
places.
And
finding
it!
You
may
feel
that
little
Arjun
encounters
too
many
thoughtful
people
in
a
city
notorious
for
its
brutal
insensitivity.
But
that's
Amole
Gupte
for
you.
Whether
it
was
the
hunger
for
food
in
"Stanley
Ka
Dabba" or
the
yearning
to
achieve
one's
dreams
in
this
film,
the
child
at
the
centre
of
the
plot
is
constantly
being
given
a
chance
to
find
his
identity
amidst
the
turmoil,
chaos
and
bustle
of
Mumbai.
Arjun's
dreams
are
visualised
not
as
a
fairty-tale,
but
an
obtainable
reality.
The
narration
glides
forward
in
the
same
streamlined
movements
as
little
Arjun's
big
dreams
on
the
roller
skates.
The
director
allows
the
dream
to
grow
on
its
own
volition
until
Partho's
yearnings
acquire
wings
and
soar
to
a
splendid
culmination
where
the
director
intercuts
scenes
from
the
boy's
past
with
the
present
race
on
roller
skates.
No
matter
how
you
look
at
it,
life
is
tough.
But
finally
beautiful.
While
the
sequences
showing
Arjun's
growing
bonding
with
the
wheelchair-bound
Lucky
Sir,
adequately
played
by
Saqib
Saleem,
are
very
cinematic,
it's
in
the
boy's
relationship
with
his
parents
and
grandmother
and
with
his
four
street-smart
friends
that
we
witness
the
full
force
of
Gupte's
virtuosity.
Gupte
understands
the
mind
of
a
growing
children
intuitively
and
naturally.
He
sneaks
into
corridors
of
the
impressionable
mind
with
the
unquestionable
certainty
of
someone
who
knows
his
way
around.
That
he
has
Partho
as
his
ally
in
this
endeavour
to
map
the
innerscape
of
an
innocent
heart
is
just
so
providential
for
the
film.
Partho
has
already
shown
us
his
ability
to
comprehend
the
dynamics
of
childhood
in
"Stanley
Ka
Dabba".
Here
he
moves
with
age-defying
effortlessness
from
the
'dabba'
to
the
chai-glass.
Partho
brings
an
element
of
deep
tragedy
to
the
boy's
life
without
playing
for
sympathy.
Stripped
of
cute
trappings
it's
a
phenomenal
performance.
And
he
isn't
alone.
The
four
boys,
who
plays
Partho's
pals,
namely
Ashfaque
Bismillah
Khan,
Salman
Chote
Khan,
Maaman
Memon
Aand
Thiruptathi
Kushnapelli
are
equally
adept
at
portraying
the
premature
wisdom
of
street
children.
Another
small
hero
in
the
film
is
Hitesh
Soni's
background
score.
Deepa
Bhatia's
edits
down
the
material
to
a
place
where
we
see
right
into
the
soul
of
humanity.
While
the
scenes
of
camaraderie
among
the
five
boys
and
between
Partho
and
screen
parents
(Makrand,
Neha
Joshi
both
brilliant
beyond
words)
puts
a
clamp
around
your
heart
and
lump
in
your
throat,
the
skating
coach's
Hollywoodian
swagger
and
his
"troubled" relationship
with
his
NRI
brother
(Anuj
Sachdeva)
didn't
quite
grip
me.
And
honestly,
the
effort
to
introduce
a
hint
of
a
romance
between
the
coach
and
a
rich
bored
girl
from
South
Mumbai
was
just
too
strained
to
be
endearing.
Minor
aberrations
do
not
take
way
from
the
majesty
of
the
larger
picture
in
this
film
that
dares
to
dream
for
the
dreamer-hero.
You
will
laugh,
weep
and
cheer
for
this
little
Milkha
on
roller
skates.
Hawaa
Hawaai
is
an
extraordinary
saga
of
ordinary
lives,
the
kind
we
often
pass
by
at
traffic
signals.
Gupte
penetrates
the
heart
mind
soul
and
dreams
of
those
unsung
lives.
This
is
the
most
moving
film
on
street
kids
since
Mira
Nair's
Salaam
Bombay.
This
is
a
'not-to-be-missed'
life-changing
experience.