Toonpur Ka Superrhero

Star Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Tanuja, Sanjay Mishra, Delnaz Paul, Mukesh Tiwari

Director: Kireet Khurana

Toonpur Ka Superrhero cannot be described as a must watch type of a movie but it is a light and a fun-filled movie with lots of colorful cartoons along with the charming Kajol who plays the role of Ajay Devgn’s wife. Toonpur is a cartoon land and the hero Ajay Devgn somehow gets trapped in that land and after which he needs to defeat the bad cartoons called Toonasurs to aid the good ones called Devtoons. The script is loosely connected to the Hollywood flick Space Jam of 1996 in which the protagonist of the flick also gets trapped in the cartoon world. However, the Bollywood script has some flaws which fail to glue the audience. The characters of the movie are bit filmy with a character called Guppy which is a Bappi Lahiri look alike. One of the cartoon characters is also shown to be a Bollywood fan and it copies Shah Rukh Khan’s character in the flick Darr.

The only thing about this movie is that it’s not only dedicated to the kids but, even the grownups will find it somewhat interesting. Obviously the movie is not fantabulous, but one thing worth mentioning is the effort put into it. The concept of the movie is new to Bollywood and good work has been done by director Kireet Khurana. The story revolves around the protagonist of the movie Ajay Devgn as Aditya Kumar who has a happy family with wife Kajol as Priya and two lovely children. However, the kids wish that their dad should be a real life hero and from there the plot starts. So, when Aditya miraculously finds himself trapped in the world of bizarre cartoons he gets an opportunity to prove his heroism to his kids.

Though the movie is not quite catchy at the start, however, gradually the movie starts becoming interesting and the characters of Rubdoot and bad guy Jugaro are also quite exciting. However, the climax of the movie is nothing outstanding though it cannot be called bad either. So, if compared to the famous animation movies like the Toy Story 3, Toonpur Ka Superrhero has a long way to go. The bad part of the movie is the loose script which becomes very monotonous. Though the movie may not be a blockbuster, but, it is a good and light movie which can be watched at our leisure time when one has nothing else to do. Christmas is a good time to release a movie for children because both the kids and parents are off work. And Toonpur Ka Superrhero aim to plug the benefits of the season. Relatively higher budgeted than the regular children's movies that are made in India, TKS also has an appealing storyline apart from the fact that it is the first Indian live action animation.

Aditya Kumar (Ajay Devgn) is a film star but his kids consider him a fake hero who gets his stunts done by body doubles. However the toons from the toon-world believe that Aditya is a real superhero and the only person who can save their world from constant wars. So they kidnap him! Soon they figure out Aditya is only an actor and no good when it comes to real fighting. But Aditya takes up the challenge to prove to his kids that he can be a real hero too and goes about helping the 'Devtoons' - the good toons who are fighting the bad toons called 'Toonasurs's. Though the film has everything that would keep the kids engrossed it falls short on a few parameters. The film which took almost three years in making clearly needed more planning. The director's attention in keeping the animation right probably led to a bad job in the writing, which goes stray track at some points. While the first half is slow the second half is quite exciting. The film ends on a good note.

The film scores on animation. As mentioned earlier this is the first time such a film in India and the entire work is done in some of the country's best animation studios. It is not exactly in the category as Hollywood greats in the same genre but this is advancement in Indian standards. On the scale of performances Ajay Devgn deserves kudos. It is not easy by any means to act in a live action animation film, where you are supposed to be talking to character who are created later graphically. Kajol has relatively lesser job to do but is good in what she does. Overall, Toonpur Ka Superrhero should keep the children's attention while not boring the adult audience outright - at the least kids who less than 10 years old. Without a doubt it could have been many notches better but we cannot deny that this is a good start!

Toonpur Ka Superrhero' is a visual experience that needs to applauded for the sheer attempt that has gone into it's making. As for the story of 'Toonpur Ka Superrhero', it is the kind that can be instantly grasped by children, its target audience. There is a world somewhere far far away and it is called 'Toonpur'. There are good toons and bad toons. And then there is Ajay Devgn, a screen-hero, whom the good toons rope in to defeat the evil ones. The film is just ordinary when it comes to the scenes involving real characters. The opening action sequence with a motorboat chase belongs to 90s and is hardly thrilling. Also, the sequences involving Ajay, his secretary, his family etc. have a ‘seen it done all’ feel. Frankly, if there was an attempt at bringing on some emotions here, it doesn't quite work. Also, there is no spark that one sees on screen despite Ajay and Kajol coming together.

The world of toons though is better laid out though none of them - whether it is the Gujarati woman, the Sikh kid, the Marathi 'hawaldar', the Bengali performer, an Einstein kinda scientist or the Christian hottie - have much character depth to them. Of course no one expected a full-on detailing around their past, present or future but still there could have been something about these characters that would have made audience emotionally connect to them. This is the reason why the second half of the film works because while emotions just didn't work in the first hour of the film, action dominating the second half more than makes up for it. A massive first step in this direction is taken with the song 'Rubdoot'. This is when you actually clinch your fist and exclaim - 'Yes, we have arrived when it comes to world class animation'. In fact portions in and around this scene leave a major impact as well. The villain's den, his bunch of 'goondas', the fight that takes place soon after and then the announcement of battle lines being drawn between Ajay Devgn and Toonasurs - there is a promise of some superb action ahead.

In fact there is much more delivered with the entire climax made of three stage gaming. Watch out for the manner in which Ajay Devgn (who is later joined by Kajol) wins his first two rounds. However the final combat (set in an arena) could have been better. It turns out to relatively easy, hence leading to a climax that also seems like a little abrupt. Nevertheless, in the times when all that one gets to see in the world of animation films are one mythological tale after another, it is wonderful to see someone (Ajay Devgn here) backing a project like 'Toonpur Ka Superherro'. Now if only the film would have been as exciting from start to finish, it may just have been the perfect outing that a family may have been looking for.