Review of movie Halkaa

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Rating:2/5

The film hopes to explore a rare and valid issue — an individual’s right to privacy and dignity. We are often conditioned to believe that kids don’t need privacy because they are kids and this film questions that mind-set. While the premise is interesting, good intentions don’t make for good movies and that’s the problem with Halkaa (slang to relieve oneself). 

Halkaa basically says no to open defecation and thus supports our Government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Though the film doesn’t come across as a part of some government policy, it doesn’t touch your heart as a human story either. Rich ‘English speaking’ kids studying in posh schools are shown to be fascinated by the poor kids and while it is possible, the silly scenes fail to embody their compassion. Also, the film wanders around aimlessly and is full of incoherent, irrelevant situations that add nothing to the subject at hand. Clichéd slow-mo dream sequences of Pichku gazing at a colourful portably potty and flower fields fail to amuse you or feel for his traumatic situation. The boy’s conversation with his parents (Ranvir Shorey and Paoli Dam) doesn’t seem heartfelt either. Dialogue barely goes beyond, “Mummy, Papa ko bolo humein toilet dilwa de.”