Thanks Maa

There is nothing ‘nice’ about Thanks Maa in the sense that it provides a no-holds-barred picture of life in Bombay and worst case scenarios. All that makes you cringe in disgust. Yet, it’s a touching and moving film that’s not for the weak-hearted.

Thanks Maa revolves around 12-year-old orphan Municipality Ghatkopar (Shams Patel), a small-time thief who spends his day hanging out and hatching theft plans with his buddies: clever boy Soda (Salman), the immensely likeable Sursuri (Almas), Dhed Shaana (Jaffer) and Cutting (Fayaaz) both of whom are adorable. Municipality finds an abandoned baby outside a remand home and is determined to reunite him with his mother. The film is about his determined journey against all odds.

What makes Thanks Maa a winner are the fabulous and straight-from-the-heart from each of the five children. Their spontaneity and camaraderie will leave you speechless. It’s reminiscent of SLumdog Millionaire and you will think they have lived on the streets all their lives. The children are tough yet vulnerable, clever yet innocent and so much more. Shams Patel holds the film together. He is quite a discovery and his National Award is well-deserved. The film has a bunch of well-placed and well-cast cameos by the likes of Sanjay Mishra, Ranveer Shorey and Barry John (who struggles with his Hindi lines).

The way Municipality takes care of the baby and his inherent goodness and optimism is endearing and the way he pines for his own mother is heart-wrenching. A couple of scenes, especially the one before the interval will bring a tear to your eye. The children use crude and vulgar language but that’s fine because one can’t expect them to be refined. They have had to grow up fast.

Thanks Maa has been shot in the underbelly of Bombay, in red light areas, dump yards, drug addas, late night abortion clinics and the like. It depicts the worst of every situation and calls a spade a spade. Don’t expect any gloss or subtlety here. You have paedophile remand-home managers, fathers that rape their daughters, a group of eunuchs waiting to convert baby boys, mothers who push their daughters into prostitution and the like. That’s how it shocks you and makes you cringe in disgust. The constant barrage of this in the second half makes the movie repetitive. You are rooting for the characters but you want the journey to culminate. The film has an open ending but the angle of Municipality’s mother is filmy and corny. Why she abandons him is also unexplained. Debutante director Irfan Kamal handles the scenes with children better than the ones with adults. Yet, he makes an assured, well-researched and unconventional debut. He could be the next Madhur Bhandarkar because his film is gritty, real and shocking with a lot of soul.

Thanks Maa is a must-see simply because of its talented young cast who will bowl you over. It’s nit for popcorn audiences but for people who like meaningful cinema that has a message.

Janhvi Patel/ Hill Road Media