'Ghatothkach' is another mythology driven animation film preceded by 'Hanuman', 'Hanuman Returns' and 'Bal Ganesh'. This time the movie is based on the Mahabharat epic. The middle brother of the Pandavas led by Yudhishthar was Bheem. He was very strong and had married a demon woman named Hidimba. They had a son no less strong than his father and was known as 'Ghatothkach'.
The movie depicts that 'Ghatothkach' has the rare combination of strength and proficiency in the art of magic. When Kaurava prince Duryodhan learns that Ghatothkach is destined to kill him, the former sends two comic-demons to kill the latter. While baby Ghatothkach slays one of them the other lies that he's done the job. Ghatothkach alias Ghattu makes friends with an adorable baby elephant Gajju, who follows him around to learn magic. They grew up while Ghatothkach looked rather tidy with a potbelly and bushy moustache, much like the cartoon character Obelix, Gajju appeared funny as he continues to goof up his magic mantras and causes mayhem!
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In the movie, Ghatothkach gets involved in his cousin Abhimanyu's love affair with a princess named Surekha. However, Surekha's parents wished to get their daughter married to the Kaurava prince Duryodhan's son Lakshman. Since the Pandavas were in exile, Ghatothkach abducts Surekha from her palace in Dwarkapuri and takes her form. Ghatothkach in the disguised form of Surekha also gets set to marry Lakshman. Thus, starts the battle between the two warring groups - one led by the good and the other by the evil, as witnessed in our epics. And, the result from a mythological movie is obvious.
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Now, let's discuss its animation part. There are two kinds of animation, and both happen to be good. The style changes to a more 3-D style in two songs, otherwise this stays at regular 2D. All characters look charming. However, the movie lacks in script writing, especially in writing dialogues. Since the movie is an animated one and supposed to cater to children, there is the need to take special care in this respect.
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The director has failed to realize it. How else would he allow Bollywood spice in the form of dialogues and item number to be mixed with this animated film for children. For example, there is a love song between Abhimanyu and Surekha culminating into a kiss. Then, there is a kind of item song in the form of Maya bazaar with bhangra music but with scantily clothed women. Our society has strongly objected to the scantly clothed overseas cheer girls' presence at the recent Cricket shows!
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The lyrics, especially 'Main hun Ghatothkach' and 'Angalika bangalika' are excellent inasmuch as they will catch the ears of the kids and provide them enough fun. S. Srinivasa Rao who is also the director has provided nice music to the movie by mixing various genres from rock and pop to bhangra and Mediterranean. While talking to the audience, we found that they are looking for animated movies beyond the mythological subjects. Maybe they have had enough of such movies in the past. In any case, the filmmakers have to look beyond our mythological heroes. Overall, the movie is good for kids, especially during their long vacation. They will have enough fun out of some interesting song picturization and the music.
