Rating: 9.7/10
Director: Suhas Kadav
Writer: Kripa Shankar
Stars: Ben Bledsoe, Darren Capozzi, Alexandra Ryan
Runtime: 126 min
Genre: Animation
Released: 14 Oct 2016

Storyline: Motu and Patlu are best friends. When trouble engulfs the village, they team up to save the day. otu and Patlu are your home-grown Laurel and Hardy in an animation avatar. They befriend a circus lion, Guddu and attempt to save the jungle from a greedy poacher.

Review: Motu and Patlu are no strangers to the Hindi-speaking belt. These characters are household names in India’s heartland, courtesy the extensive readership of the Lotpot comics in which they have featured for 46 odd years. And, they already have a faithful fan-base.
So where their screen-adventure begin? Well, it all starts when they bump into Guddu Ghalib, the vegetarian circus lion, who is frustrated riding bicycles and jumping through fire rings. One day Guddu escapes and comes straight to Furfuri Nagariya, the home of Motu-Patlu. At first, the two friends are afraid of the lion because they think he is your regular ferocious man-eater. However, when they discover that this circus lion is a softie at heart and chomps on carrots for lunch, they befriend him. They even decide to drop him off at the jungle. However, even before their good intentions can be translated, Motu finds out that the jungle has been seized by a dangerous poacher called Narsimha, who intends to loot the gold hidden inside. The villain also intends to kill the original Lion King (Simha) and all the other animals. But Motu-Patlu’s arrival on the scene with Guddu Ghalib, who looks exactly like Simha changes everything.

Motu is not as endearing as Mowgli from The Jungle Book nor is this animated action-adventure anywhere close to the Hollywood film that recently rewrote box-office history. However, the attempt to tell a simple kiddie story with the right punches must be applauded. A 15-minute shorter duration would have kept it crisper. The animation and 3D effects are notches above what has been attempted in the children’s film genre by an Indian studio. Also, the bonus here is the contribution of renowned names like Gulzar (lyrics) and Vishal Bhardwaj (music) to the solo track.

So if you have kids or even better if your dil is a bachcha, you may succumb to Motu-Patlu’s charms at the local multiplex.