My Friend Ganesha Review

Over last few years, if one God has gained 'popularity' amongst children, it is LORD GANESHA. You have Ganesha key rings, Ganesha pencil boxes, Ganesha T-Shirts, Ganesha school bags, Ganesha posters and numerous other accessories that have made children fond of the God.

No wonder, it was not a bad idea for the makers to come up with a children's film that is based on Lord Ganesha. To make things further interesting, unlike other such films in the past like HANUMAN or KRISHNA, the title is prefixed with MY FRIEND which makes it further more identifiable for kids.

You know what you are getting into while venturing into MY FRIEND GANESHA. Expectations are mainly centered on watching a cute flick that has a child [Ehsaas] befriending Lord Ganesha in current times. A good idea, since it is the first of its kinds to be coming out of the Hindi film industry.

Ok, so one doesn't even think that there would be anything remotely comparable to the kind of effort and results that come from our Hollywood counterparts. But the least one expects though is some decent animation, consistent coming together of some light hearted scenes and some heartwarming moments due to the new age relationship shared between a child and a God.

Surprisingly this very requirement is not met as the story is utter predictable, proceedings lukewarm and acting substandard. Heck, even the animation isn't up to the mark as one continues to wait for the day when something much more up market and high standard would make it's way into children's films.

As mentioned, the plot is quite simple. A child feeling neglected by his parents finds a friend in Ganesha who miraculously enters his life and changes it forever by befriending him and walking him out of all the trouble. A plot like this is expected to pep up once the animation takes over.

It does to some extent but still doesn't make such an impact that would make you look at the proceedings in amazement. It keeps you involved, yes, but that's about it. Even then, there are some plain ordinary sequences around the family problems that go on and on without making you sympathize with the situation.

Overall once the curtains go down, you are left with an utter sense of emptiness. What was exactly the point of creation of such a half-cooked product which could have made a much better impact if more effort had gone into it's making after the noble idea of it being conceptualized? Couldn't it have been a better idea to have more funds going into MY FRIEND GANESHA that would have made it a much polished product? And last but not the least, why not some better promotion to at least create some awareness around the film?

Result is that the film hardly turns out to be the kind that would make you make beelines in front of the theaters or even anticipate it's DVD release.

Rating: *1/2