Guthlee Ladoo Review – Dhanay Seth Charms As Guthlee
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Guthlee is a bright-eyed boy who dreams of nothing but going to school, but born to a poor cleaner, he isn’t allowed to enroll into the only school in town as it discriminates against children from his caste.
Created by Ishrat R. Khan, Srinivas Abrol, and Ganesh Pandit, the Bollywood movie ‘Guthlee Ladoo’ stars Dhanay Seth as the titular Guthlee, while Sanjay Mishra plays Harishankar, the principal of the school where Guthlee is always hanging out, peeping through windowsills to learn alphabets, numbers, and even poetry. The story follows how the upper caste teacher and the impish Guthlee form a bond, which could help the boy’s desire to study come true, even though the path is laden with hurdles.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with Dhanay Seth’s portrayal of the spirited Guthlee within the first few minutes of the film, his excitement and hunger for knowledge is infectious. “See? All of you sit inside the classroom yet your minds wanders outside, while Guthlee is outside but his mind is inside,” a teacher tells her students when nobody is able to answer her questions except the stoked Guthlee standing by the window. Unfortunately, Dhanay Seth’s Guthlee doesn’t get as much screen-time as one would anticipate, considering he is the titular lead. Heet Sharma plays Guthlee’s best-friend Laddoo, and his character doesn’t stretch beyond being a chubby kid who loves eating sweets.
Adults dominate a world where the kids should’ve shone, although all the older actors do justice to their roles. Sanjay Mishra is entertaining as the aging bachelor Harishnakar, who lives with his bossy mother and is scared of smoking around the house because of her taunts. Subrat Dutta and Kalyanee Mulay play Guthlee’s parents Mangru and Rania respectively. Subrat Dutta’s Mangru is a loving, doting dad who doesn’t realize there’s more to life than cleaning bathrooms for members of his community until he meets an officer from a lower caste who makes him see education can pull his community out of adversity. Arif Shahdoli is greasily-despicable at the casual, two-faced antagonist in the tale, the corrupt Chaube, who owns Harishankar’s school and won’t allow lower caste children admission, despite a government mandate stipulating a number of seats to be reserved for underprivileged kids.
While the cinematography effectively captures the dust, grime, and charm of small-town India, the background music is overly dramatic and loud in moments where the creators should’ve let the actors’ emotions convey the mood of the scene. The music screams, “This is a sad scene; you must feel bad,” instead of subtly complementing the events unfolding on your screen. Even though the climax heads to a triumphant ending, it feels underwhelming because of the muddled direction.
Overall, “Guthlee Ladoo” feels very formulaic, relying on old text-book tropes to stir up emotions within the viewers. But underneath the formulaic facade, lies a laudable attempt at highlighting the power of education and human determination. I just wish both Guthlee and Laddoo had more screen-time.
Rating: 3 on 5. Stream on Prime Video.
Read Next: Killer Soup Review – Konkona & Cast Spice Up Lumpy Brew
Also Read: A Man Called Ove – Orderline Oring (Audio Version Below)
