Chhota Bheem And The Curse Of Damyaan is the first live-action film of the animated Chhota Bheem series. A film of the same name was released in 2012 but in animated form. The plot has potential and the makers have tried their best to give a product that’ll entice the kids. The actors are cute and raise laughs in a few places. The song ‘Zara Muskura’ is catchy and soulful (although the visuals seem heavily inspired by Baahubali 2’s song ‘Veeron Ke Veer Aa’). Sadly, the film suffers as the VFX looks tacky in several places. The humour is limited. The length is 2 hours and 25 minutes and the film just goes on and on, especially during the climax fight. The biggest problem, meanwhile, is that the cuteness, which was the USP of the animated Chhota Bheem, is lost in the live-action version. The animated Bheem looks adorable doing action. The live-action Bheem, however, is seen fighting baddies a la South heroes. The kids won’t find it appealing while for adults, it’ll be laughable. As for the performances, the child actors Yagya Bhasin (Bheem), Aashriya Mishra (Chutki), Davik Dawar (Dholu), Divyam Dawar (Bholu) and Kabir Sajid Shaikh (Kalia) perform ably. Anupam Kher (Guru Shambhu), Mukesh Chhabra (Gulab Chacha) and Navneet Kaur Dhillon (Tashika) lend able support. Makrand Deshpande (Skandhi) hams but it works for his character. Sanjay Bishnoi (King Indraverma) is expressionless. All in all, Chhota Bheem And The Curse Of Damyaan fails in its endaevour.
My rating – ** out of 5!