Marathi cartoon strip character Chintu will now be seen on celluloid
News — By The Desk on November 22, 2011 at 12:31 PMPune Mirror: He brings a smile to your face every morning through his naughty yet adorable antics. Through his curious questions about every little routine phenomenon he observes, making his rather simplistic parents blush a deep red with embarrassment, this cute little boy in his trademark colourful shorts with a tiny lock of hair falling on his forehead, represents the city’s middle class, putting across their daily trials and tribulations in the simplest of words.
On Monday, Pune’s favourite kid, Chintu, turned 20, and as a fitting birthday gift for him, city-based filmmaker, Shrirang Godbole, announced the production of a live action feature film for children based on the Marathi cartoon strip character millions across the globe dote on.
Charuhas Pandit, the creator of the comic strip, said, “I’m proud of my ‘baby’ for making it through 20 years. I’m sure Chintu himself is very happy about receiving this very special gift on his 20th birthday.”
Godbole added, “I’ll see to it that the goodwill created by this strip for over 20 years receives full justice. Auditions will be taken to make the perfect casting for all the familiar characters: Chintu, Pappu, Mini, Aai, Baba, Raghu and Joshi Kaku. But audiences must keep in mind that the actors might ‘look’ different from the characters they’re used to seeing in the comic strip.”
Vibhawari Deshpande, who has written the screenplay, added, “The synopsis of the movie will not be a carbon copy of the strip. However, the traits of all the characters that everyone is familiar with, for example, the perkiness of Mini or the brash bullying of Raghu, will be retained.”
The theme song of the untitled movie is a catchy number ‘Chintu’ composed and written by Saleel Kulkarni and Sandeep Khare. Kulkarni said, “Some of Chintu’s capers are still fresh in my mind. He does not just make you laugh, but also makes you think. Each one of us has a naughty child within ourselves which is why everybody loves Chintu. The ‘Chintu’ song has a bit of everything associated with the boy; it has shades of fun, frolic, nostalgia and an underlying childlike warmth.”
The duration of the movie will be of 70 to 90 minutes and will go on floors in April, during the summer vacations. Godbole said the plot will chronicle the seemingly trivial, but significant experiences encountered by children in a typical urban setting. “Vibhawari and I have been propagating the Grips Theatre in India for over a decade. So we have a considerable insight into child psychology and the little issues faced by kids today. Chintu depicts innocence coupled with a subtle sensitivity and the movie attempts to portray just that.”
The Marathi movie — produced by Indian Magic Eye Motion Pictures Pvt Ltd — will be the first instance of a cartoon strip being converted into a movie for the Indian film industry. The makers are also planning a sequel to the movie.
