Amole Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai is not just the story of a skating champion, it’s the story of a huge divide between rich and poor, and it is also the story of underprivileged kids who are told not to dream.
If you liked Stanley Ka Dabba, you’ll also like this.

All said and done, Hawaa Hawaai is a feature film. It isn’t the tautest piece of artistic cinema ever made. In fact, at times, its emotion heavy scenes seem a little too scripted. But you can’t deny the fact that this film has a solid heart of gold.

While the end hints at melodrama and an obvious ‘Bhaag Milka Bhaag’ connection, Amole manages to steer clear of turning it into regular Bollywood grab.

We recommend a trip to the cinemas, armed with a big box of tissues. Believe me, you’d thank us for it!

I did feel that he did go a little over the top, sticking to a predictable underdog story line. Stanley ka Dabba, was in many ways a far more restrained, nuanced and subtle film that really shocks and pains you. Hawaa Hawaai doesn’t quite have the same effect but it’s still a film that plays to win and has its audience firmly on it’s side, laughing, crying, cheering and praying for the boy to finally fly.

Hawaa Hawaai is a fine entertainer which makes the audience laugh, cry, cheer and enjoy. It has the potential to be a hit but its extremely poor start will tell on its business in the final tally. Word of mouth for the film will be positive because of which box-office collections, which were very poor on the first day, will pick up as the days progress.

Hawaa Hawaai needed some sparseness and quiet, but even with all the noise, you will love Arjun and his friends, and cheer them on. In dramatic pitch, Hawaa Hawaai is much more brassy than Stanley Ka Dabba, Gupte’s first film as director, also about an underprivileged child affirming life. The emphasis on melodrama lends the film a soap-operatic quality it doesn’t need, because the story has a linear, classic underdog graph, leading up to a climactic race—a Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, but with a socialist engagement with poverty and its trappings.

Hawaa Hawaai is an extraordinary saga of ordinary lives, the kind we often pass by at traffic signals. Gupte penetrates the heart, mind, soul and dreams of those unsung lives. This is the most moving film on street kids since Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay.
This is a not-to-be-missed life-changing experience.