Movie: Take it Easy
Director: Sunil Prem
Cast: Vikram Gokhale, Dipannita Sharma, Raj Zutshi, Anang Desai, Joy Sengupta
Genre: Drama
Sometimes growing up can be really tiring, isn’t it? I miss my school days when the world was the simpler place, my problems were resolvable with a few tantrums and my dream was to perch the moon in my balcony and no one cared to give me a reality check (it was called ‘dreaming big’ back then). Ah! The good old school days. But director Sunil Prem insists on bringing us face-to-face with the pathetic harsh realities of a school life- the heavy school bags, the race to come first, parental pressure, never ending tests and so on. The movie Take it Easy aims to remind parents to let their children breathe and not suffocate them with unhealthy competition and pressure to win. Now, despite a meaningful theme, the movie fails to deliver a sound performance owing to a weak script and televised melodrama.
Raghu and Arjun are two primary school children belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds. Arjun’s dad shouts at him for losing out on 2 marks in an exam (what a loser dad!) and Raghu’s father insists on churning an athlete out of him(Olympics Champion to be precise), just because the father lost at the Olympics (loser dad no. 2). These two kids keep participating in races and more than them, their parents keep competing to win (“Beta apni ma ki kasam khao, ki tum agli baar first aoge”). This is followed by some kids acting like much too sensible adults, a cranky-high society school owner who is a typical Tv serial vamp, and a lot of unnecessary drama.
If I were to judge the movie in terms of acting, I think the child actors did a very good job. The older actors were cast in repetitive and worn out roles. The script carries the potential for a good movie, but fails to create an impact. Veteran actress Supriya karnik’s acting was despicable and outdated. Popular for her negative roles, this movie will probably go down her kitty as one of her worst performances. However, the message in the movie is important and necessary in the times where competition no longer implies testing one’s own skills. Rather to compete means to win, even if one has to resort to unethical ways.
Take it easy is a children’s movie and a one-time watch for parents and their kids. For the rest of us, this movie should be missed without a second thought. Well, a sad beginning to 2015 indeed but I have my fingers crossed for better releases ahead.
My verdict: **
