Film: My Friend Ganesha 2
Director: Rajiv S. Ruia
Banner: Baba Arts Limited
Producer: Baba Arts Limited
Cast: Harsh Chhaya, Bhairavi Goswami, Upasna Singh, Sulabha Deshpande, Suhasini Mulay, Kurush Deboo, Shiva, Sanjay Swaraj, Manoj Joshi, Mika Singh, Raja Hasan
Rating: 0.5/5
Take your child at your own risk.
Religious movies have always found takers in our country what with religion being our opium. And these days, like a reliving of the birth of Indian cinema, the fledgling animation industry is hard-selling mythology and religion in a bid to establish itself. Yes, mythology does provide us engaging stories but this religious fervor to appeal to young minds is not taking it anywhere.
Ridiculous standards of animation pervade the industry today. My Friend Ganesha – 2 takes those standards even lower. Lack of technical skill combines with lack of imagination and produces a product that is far below the IQ and GK of the dullest child.
Unfunny, tacky and extremely loud, My Friend Ganesha – 2 is a partly animated film that doesn’t work any which ways. It sports a very thin story-line that revolves around xxxxx whose parents are always fighting which traumatises him. His fighting parents spare not much thought for their kid and continue with shouting matches at the sound of a camera whir.
One can only wonder at the immensely poor characterisation, or the complete lack of it. Enter a ‘bai’ in their lives who brings Ganesha into their life, in the form of a friend for the sad, lonely boy. Ganesha appears with Mushak Raj in an animated form and saves the lad from bullies, helps him win dance competitions, entertains him at home and generally plays best pal. He even gets his parents to reconcile, saves him and his mates from terrorists and manages to stave off his best friend’s death.
One would think so much drama has immense scope for an interesting vivid exploration but an immature script massacres every opportunity of engagement. Bad performances further add to the chaos. Harsh Chhaya, Manoj Joshi, Kurush Deboo and Suhasini Mulay give surprisingly loud and sub-standard performances that add insult to injury. Master Ali is passably good and Upasna Singh is watchable if only she was on mute. Bhairavi Goswami displays non-existent acting skills, completely letting down her role.
Considering that My Friend Ganesha – 1 was a success, the scale and finesse of this movie should have upped. Instead the film screens unskilled animations that take away what little it could have given. The film looks like a poorly lit and poorly shot video in many parts and there is no salvaging it. Not even the nuggets of philosophies that Ganesha mouths.
The film has surprisingly low production values and it affects the viewing considerably. Sets, costumes, lighting, actors all speak of disastrously low standards of film-making, something that the animation cannot afford at this point. Do not take your child to such a fare unless he is in your bad books. This could be a nice new way of punishing your child.
