After Chota Chetan and Halo, Makdee is one of the finest children films to have hit the Indian screen.
Entirely set in a rural backdrop, the movie enthralls the viewer from its very first scene where a minor thief is chased by the villagers and soon after whisked by a spider-woman aka Makdee (Shabana Azmi). No one in the village dares enter this Spiderwomen's mansion for the legend has it that whoever enters the mansion comes out as an animal. Enter twin sisters Chunni and Munni (Shweta Prasad) who are like any other Bollywood twins bindaas and darpok respectively. Everything goes fine until when one of Chunni's pranks leads Munni into the haunted house where the witch turns her into a hen. To get her sister back Chunni has to deal hundred chickens with the Makdee in exchange.
The climax is a surprise where the fairy (oops! witchy) tale turns out to be a conspiracy theory. But the surprise is not much pleasant, as the supernatural element is lost here. The movie still has its moments of ham-free humour and at times horrendously scary ones too (do accompany your kids). The narration is effective and editing perfectly crisp (just 95 minutes runtime but a pure delight).
Shabana and the other Makdee (MAKrand Deshpande as the mean butcher) are amazing. Master Alaap Mazgaonkar makes you laugh with his funny face and gestures itself. The movie undoubtedly belongs to Shweta Prasad who gives the best performance of the year (her talent has been much aptly explored than her minuscule bit in the television soap Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki). Kareena and Esha are recommended acting lessons from this little wonder.
Finally hats-off to director Vishal Bharadwaj for daring to attempt an offbeat theme a children's film (when everyone else is busy with crappy love stories) for his debut venture and moreover extracting stupendous performances from the child artistes. He perfectly sets the difference between children films and childish films.
At last Indian kids have something sensible and more interesting to watch than Shakalaka Boom Boom and Shaktimaan.
Entirely set in a rural backdrop, the movie enthralls the viewer from its very first scene where a minor thief is chased by the villagers and soon after whisked by a spider-woman aka Makdee (Shabana Azmi). No one in the village dares enter this Spiderwomen's mansion for the legend has it that whoever enters the mansion comes out as an animal. Enter twin sisters Chunni and Munni (Shweta Prasad) who are like any other Bollywood twins bindaas and darpok respectively. Everything goes fine until when one of Chunni's pranks leads Munni into the haunted house where the witch turns her into a hen. To get her sister back Chunni has to deal hundred chickens with the Makdee in exchange.
The climax is a surprise where the fairy (oops! witchy) tale turns out to be a conspiracy theory. But the surprise is not much pleasant, as the supernatural element is lost here. The movie still has its moments of ham-free humour and at times horrendously scary ones too (do accompany your kids). The narration is effective and editing perfectly crisp (just 95 minutes runtime but a pure delight).
Shabana and the other Makdee (MAKrand Deshpande as the mean butcher) are amazing. Master Alaap Mazgaonkar makes you laugh with his funny face and gestures itself. The movie undoubtedly belongs to Shweta Prasad who gives the best performance of the year (her talent has been much aptly explored than her minuscule bit in the television soap Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki). Kareena and Esha are recommended acting lessons from this little wonder.
Finally hats-off to director Vishal Bharadwaj for daring to attempt an offbeat theme a children's film (when everyone else is busy with crappy love stories) for his debut venture and moreover extracting stupendous performances from the child artistes. He perfectly sets the difference between children films and childish films.
At last Indian kids have something sensible and more interesting to watch than Shakalaka Boom Boom and Shaktimaan.
