Amole Gupte has always fascinated me with his excellent approach towards children, emotions and drama. He captures the little things and reads between the lines to bring out fantastic images of pure sense, passion and realism.
Unfortunately, with Hawaa Hawaai he employs a tried, tested and succeeded formula that talks about a boy's wish to skate. The characters are written with finesse. Saqib Saleem's character is that of an altruist, which if we relate with reality, hampers the thought. There may be 5 out of 1000 people like this character which was previously found in Gupte's Taare Zameen Par i.e. Aamir Khan's character. Partho Gupte should be lauded for his brilliant performance, both while expressing and skating.
I loved the screenplay because it doesn't tell you everything at once. The lead characters' stories are narrated with time as the plot advances. Although the story is tad clichéd, the execution is fine. Supporting cast, music, cinematography and editing all are good. The four boys who enacted the roles of poor, street lads of Mumbai are the bees' knees and secondary cynosure of the film, after Gupte Jr.; I envied their friendship, mind you! The thing about sports movies is that they inspire but it is ironical to know that the inspiration fades after you leave the theater.
But still, this time Gupte samples ounces of melodrama which have varied effects: one, that it induces emotions into the viewers and two, it gives away the idea that the whole film is make-believe. Having said that, the climax is predictable and because I did not experience anything new, I rate it a humble 6.3 out of 10.
BOTTOM LINE: Just because the film doesn't bore and engages you to the core doesn't mean it is highbrow. It can be considered as a very watchable film if we are talking about all those recent potboilers in Bollywood. Recommended!
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
