Thanks Maa

he most remarkable aspect about Thanks Maa is the believability and rootedness of the plot. The story has been related with sincerity, warmth and honesty. Irfan Kamal tells it straight and simple, no resorting to narrative gimmickry. And he defines each of the kids wonderfully, in the process bringing out a heart-warming ensemble performance with lead actor Shams Patel having bagged the national award for the best child actor. Soda, Cutting, Sursuri and, above all, Municipality, are kids we encounter every day. The theme itself is a significant one—abandoned children. Municipality saves an abandoned infant from being mauled by the dogs and goes on a quest to find his mother. The film is all about the journey in which some people step in to help, others discourage; they encounter the good, the bad and the ugly of life. The film takes the viewer through the hard-to-stomach underbelly of Mumbai and offers a sharp social critique. Some sequences and the language can be disturbing but Thanks Maa’s realism touches deep. It’s an affecting, gut-wrenching film that deserves to find an audience much bigger than its publicity budget.