Gattu is a 2012 Indian film written by K.D.Satyam and directed by rajan khosa.The film stars Mohammad Samad, Naresh Kumar, Zoya Arshad, Harshit Kaushik, Sarvasva Singh Pundir and Jayanta Das in leading roles and had its premiere on 14 November 2011 at the 17th International Children's Festival of India held in Hyderabad during 14 November 2011 and 20 November 2011. Gattu had its theatrical release in India on 20 April 2012.
Plot
Gattu is a nine-year old orphan who works in his uncle's garbage recycling business and is fascinated by Kite flying, specially the black kite Kali which has managed to remain unconquered in the sky till date. Gattu's desire to defeat the black kite leads him to a school where he pretends to be a student and builds a web of lies to impress his classmates and keep his dream of conquering the black kite alive.
Gattu opened at the 17th International Children's Film Festival at Hyderabad. This film was held in high regards by critics and film reviewers all over the world. The film had been honored with a special mention under Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk category at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. It is one of the few films of Bollywood to win such acclaim. At the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2012, Gattu won the Audience Choice Award for the Best Feature and the Honorable Mention of the Jury Award. At the 12th Annual New York Indian Film Festival, Gattu won the awards in the categories of Best Film as well as Best Young Actor which was won by the lead actor of the film Mohammad Samad.
Critical reception
critic Nandita Dutta wrote that "Although Gattu works around the regular elements of children’s stories, it turns out to be an endearing tale of a little boy who is passionate about flying kites." Mansha Rastogi of Now Running gave the movie 4/5 stars, saying that "Gattu is yet another gem that Hindi film industry can be proud of. A definite watch for people of all age groups." NDTV review called it, "a delicately-threaded morality tale ", Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave it 3.5/5 stars, while Prayag Arora Desai of Rediff gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, concluding that "Gattu is a must watch for all but most especially cynics who believe 'there is no hope for any of us'. It took Gattu just a little less than two hours to prove it." Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that "Gattu is a must-watch for children of all ages. And if you think you're too grown up for a kiddie film, go fly a kite. Maybe that's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up too soon. We should just let the little one's in us rule the world.". Subhash K Jha of Indicine gave the movie 3/5 stars, saying that "Gattu carries forward the recent trend of sensible, intelligent funny and moving films about child protagonists, namely Taare Zameen Par, I Am Kalam and Stanley Ka Dabba. Add one more film to that luminous list of cinema on little wonders." Blessy Chettiar of DNA India gave the movie 3/5 stars, stating that "Gattu scores high on the emotional quotient. It leaves you with a smile on your face." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the movie 3/5 stars, concluding that "On the whole, a film like GATTU speaks to both, the kids and adults. Films like these, which aren't made to appease the box-office, but cater to a different audience, ought to be encouraged. For, there's life beyond zany entertainers as well!"
