At a time when big budget Bollywood films are coming one after another lacking a good solid plot, here comes a Desi animated flick with an engaging and entertaining story line that is bound to keep the small kids in and the kid in you in splits.
The plot of the film revolves around birds acting like human beings. Amongst the birds is a scary vulture, Dhamki, who is their chief minister and they have their own laws. They have one such law which prohibits marriage of two different breeds as the offspring is impure and penalty for that is death. But Pancham and Pari, escape The Sahyadri Bird Kingdom with the help of a Gujarati speaking Humming bird named Jayesh!
The couple escapes to Mumbai where at first, they are taken aback by the scale of the city. But they slowly get settled and rent a house in a bird colony in Mumbai. The film shows bird real estate agents and schools. They have a son, named Hummie, who looks like his father but the crest on his head makes him a cross. Hummie is shown as the star amongst his friends and in his class. He gets all the attention from the ladies. But, he has a different taste in music. He loves human music.
At first, he receives staunch opposition from his friends but, later even they join in and form a bird band, The Air Guitars, who play human music. This is how they end up participating in Bird Idol. They are damned by the judges, one of them being the bird version of Bappi Lahiri. But, the audiences love them and they eventually win the show. But throughout the show Hummie has been guarding his secret that he is a cross and if Dhamki sees him on TV, he will know whose son he is and his parents’ lives will be in danger.
For that reason, he wears a cap through the show. But, a judge flings it off in the end and his secret is revealed to the world! Trouble then arrives in the form of Dhamki and his guards who take Hummie’s parents back to Sahyadri. Hummie being the hero, along with his faithful friends flies to Sahyadri to rescue his parents and manages to do that through his music.
The screenplay is immensely engaging even if for an animated film. Releasing just at the right time when school vacations have began, kids are going to love this one for sure. The animation may not be of Hollywood standards but is nonetheless passable.
The USP of the film are its songs. What with even actress Juhi Chawla singing one of the numbers! Apart from her, Shaan, Neeraj Shridhar and Kailash Kher have lent their voices too. The music is composed by Sangeet and Siddharth Haldipur and is soothing to the ears.
Bird Idol is an honest attempt and definitely deserves patronage at a time when even an average Hollywood animation film is getting enough footfalls in here.
Rating: 3/5
Director: Jyotin Goel
