Film: Hari Puttar, A Comedy Of Terrors

Directed by: Lucky Kohli

Cast: Zain Khan, Swini Khara, Sarika, Jackie Shroff, Lillete Dubey, Vijay Raaz, Saurabh Shukla

Showing at: E-Square, City Pride Kothrud, City Pride Satara road, Gold Adlabs, Adlabs,Fame Akurdi, Mangala

Warner Bros were getting antsy for nothing. Hari Puttar has nothing to do with the Harry Potter films, other than the fact that both have been filmed in England. Hari isn’t a young wizard with a scar zigzagging though his forehead. He’s just a 10-year-old who gets left behind in a large mansion, somewhere on the outskirts of London. Sounds familiar? Yep, it’s got a lot to do with Home Alone, with Zain Khan doing a desi McCaulay Culkin.

Hari is dumped on by everybody: His elder brother thinks he is a total wimp, his cousins laugh at his accent; in fact, the whole caboodle thinks he should be neither seen nor heard. His mom (Sarika) is the only one who dotes over her beloved puttar, but even she forgets him, as the family hares off somewhere, leaving behind our young hero, and his one cousin (Swini Khara) who likes him.

If you remember the first Home Alone flick, you know what happens: The youngsters (Zain, last seen in Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli, is likeable; Swini, last seen in Cheeni Kum, is not) beat a couple of thieves back, with all their arsenal: Dragging them across lawns, throwing smelly liquids whooshing on their heads, shooting sharp pointed objects at various body parts, and so on.

... contd.