REVIEW: Jumbo

Akshay proves that he can lure not just the ladies but their kids as well to the theatre

I never thought I would like a film where the hero literally blows his own trumpet. And is also fat, round and blue. But I did. Especially because Jumbo is one of the cutest, most filmy animation flicks I have seen in a long time which also has a moral unlike Roadside Romeo which was filmy and cute but not didactic.

Though a official remake of a Thai animated film Khan Kluay, Jumbo does not feel any different from a regular Bollywood film except for the houses which look a cross between the Oriental and Indian and a few characters who have a-little-too-extended eyes.

For many the 'paisa vasool' might happen in the first five minutes of the film when an absolutely gorgeous Akshay Kumar will be seen swinging to a hip hop number 'Everything's gonna be all right'. But hold on…what follows is heart warming nonetheless.

Jumbo is about a small cute blue elephant called Jaiveer (Jumbo for his loved ones) who likes to play hide and seek with frogs rather than indulge in a display of machismo with the other elly toddlers. Jumbo however is not really happy. He misses his dad. His dad, who is rumoured to be a coward, ran away from the elephant community.

Grief stricken Jumbo questions his mother about the father he'd never met and learns that he was captured by humans (BAD EVIL HUMANS). And so, to rescue his daddy, Jaiveer sets on a journey to the human camp close to the jungle. Unluckily he fails in his quest. On his way back home, he meets a pink, pretty eyed elephant Sonia (now every hero however fat and round deserves to have a heroine right?). Sonia, who by the way despises being called Pinky accompanies Jumbo back home only to find his mother gone. So the friendly Sonia takes the crestfallen Jumbo to her home - a village full of good humans.

And here's where Jumbo's real journey begins – to find his parents and become the king's royal elephant.

THE CHARACTERS: Animated but oh-so-filmy!

As a kid I had once wanted to marry Tramp, the street dog in Disney's Lady and The Tramp, after Jumbo I am thinking a rather large blue elephant might not look all that bad in a groom's attire after all. If you think the young Jumbo is cute and cuddly, wait till he grows up. Akshay Kumar makes the grown up Jaiveer sound utterly romantic and macho. Akki proves it that he can make his presence felt, even when he is not physically on screen.

But the one thing to watch out for is the amazing chemistry between Akshay Kumar and his ma-in-law Dimple Kapadia who lends voice to Jumbo's mother in the film. Dimple is a natural and her voice never sounds out of place in this animation film from the very beginning. But when the grown up Jumbo finds his mother, the mom and son dialogues become a treat for the ears. The love that the two share, becomes quite apparent on screen via their on screen elly avatars.

Lara Dutta has lent her voice to the grown up Sonia and is heard for exactly five minutes. But the one who is worth mentioning is Rajpal Yadav. The voice behind the friendly messenger pigeon Dildaar, Rajpal can easily be called the heart of the film. He with his perfect comic timing and voice makes the character come alive (well, almost).

Being an official remake of a Thai original the lips if you notice, will not move in accordance with the dialogues, but still never for once does it feel out of place. The characters are so alive that not for once would you want to notice what the Oriental architecture doing in the background.

THE MUSIC: It's a film, not a musical

Not all children's films need to be musicals, and Jumbo proves that too. The songs in this film come only when they are required and not just to provide the kids watching it with some dance and music. Except for of course the hip-hop promotional number which begins the film and has Akshay dancing to it making it by far the most enjoyable song in the entire film.

Jumbo is a cute, didactic story very much like the stories that all of us read or hear as a kid. And no matter what age you are, you will get absorbed in it before you even realise. You will start relating to the characters almost immediately. Probably more with the animal characters than the humans, though.

The animation is good. It may not match up a Surf's Up but is light years advanced than Dasavatar – the children's animation flick which released earlier this year. If Roadside Romeo was better than all the animation films in India so far, Jumbo raises the bar a little higher.

VERDICT: Go for it with your kids and you might end up enjoying it more than them! Jumbo is definitely a refreshing little film that will not disappoint you.

RATING: 2.5/5