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EDITOR'S PICK
`Detective Naani` lazy weekend viewing with kids (IANS Film Review)
Rating: **
As the title suggests, "Detective
Naani" is a simple story about a granny (Ava Mukherjee) who has those
intrinsic detective traits to her. She may not be trained like the CID officers
she comes in contact with as the story progresses, and nor is she expected to be
physically agile like youngsters.
Still, this 75-year-old lady has decades of experience behind her and a `strong
instinct` factor that makes her see things that others may ignore.
This is where the film`s basic plot comes into the picture as `naani` suspects
something fishy going on in her neighbourhood. She has a strong reason to
believe that children in her locality are going missing. But no one wants to
believe her. Her approaching the cops too proves to be futile and it is left
entirely to her to get her own team - a bunch of youngsters, her grandchildren
and a few other friendly neighbourhood folks - together and solve the mystery.
But this journey to the bottom takes its own time and it does become a little
tiring intermittently. All you want to know is the `what`, `who`, `where` and
`why` behind the mysterious happenings but filmmaker Romilla Mukherjee brings in
other Bollywood masala elements to overtly dramatise the affair.
However, as is a mandatory requirement of any suspense flick, the end should
keep you interested in the proceedings and this is what happens in case of
"Detective Naani" as well. After a good beginning and an average
middle portion, the last few reels manage to pull back the movie, saving it from
being an entirely lame exercise.
What impresses most about the movie are the tricks that `naani` applies to find
the culprits. The clues that she detects to move a step ahead may not be the
kind that one finds in the theory book, but they have a practical touch to them.
From the performance standpoint, the film was meant to be the `naani` affair all
the way and Ava Mukherjee doesn`t disappoint. Though a known face on the
commercial circuit, she has been doing films only sparsely - she was earlier
seen in "Darna Zaroori Hai" and "Devdas". "Detective
Naani" is the first time that she has been seen as a protagonist in a
Bollywood flick.
Ankur Nayyar as the CID officer does quite well too though he comes with the
disadvantage of appearing in a film where he primarily has a supporting role.
The film`s music is boring, though the background score is reasonably good.
It`s easy to dismiss a film based on just the title, genre and the star cast.
The same applies to "Detective Naani", which arrives sans any
promotion, has unknown faces and isn`t quite forthcoming of its genre - is it
comedy, a family film or a thriller?
But if one keeps all these aside and focuses just on the story and its
execution, it`s not a bad watch at all. "Detective Naani", which has
first-timer Romilla Mukherjee taking up the multiple responsibilities of a
producer, director, lyricist, composer and screenplay writer, isn`t the summer
kiddie flick that you were waiting for.
Still, if you have absolutely nothing else to watch and are through with your
daily dose of IPL, "Detective Naani" is all right for lazy weekend
viewing.