Siddharth (2013)

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A strange story that exposes the many issues in India, when you are in the lower class. Following the father, we travel and see India from a commoner viewpoint. Difficult but lots of good hearts. In the end, we wonder if the son is really lost or if we saw him preferring his new life. The grandfather seems know something.

Very good film, brilliant actors, simple but powerful script, a good story with a strong message. This is a low budget film which is an inspiration to budding filmmakers that anyone doesn't need 100 crores to showcase the talent and create a good film. Just relax and watch as it will take you away from your world while you forget about your own worries for time being and start praying for the family you are introduced to. It's equally lighthearted entertaining flick while conveying a relatively heavier message. It also conveys we don't take care of precious things until we loose them or are at the verge of loosing them. It also showcases that the life must go on despite of any major setbacks and heartbreaks. Available on Netflix!

Hope is the poor mans bread it has been said and here you get to experience it up close and personal where it is hard to ignore and watch it turn into hopelessness and then despair and hope again. The theme of this movie is simple. You and your family see and hear from each other every day and you have no reason to question the experience until it stops for whatever reason. Then, your unique story is presented and it unfolds. If an adult goes missing, well that's one set of feelings. If a child, that's another. When we stop to even consider the possibilities of what could have happened, we are overwhelmed and inundated with the worse thoughts imaginable including organ donor, sex trade and forced labor. If you just read what I wrote and monitored your own feelings while doing so...there is your movie. Watch this for this families story while we glimpse another world of poverty, different beliefs and one thing stands out...America is the hope of the world especially when you see how others live and work

A grim, emotionally wrought tale about a father's desperate and harrowing search for his missing son Siddharth offers some insights into life in contemporary India. Mahendra (played by Rajesh Tailang) is a chain wallah eking out a living on the teeming, crowded streets of New Delhi by fixing people's watch chains and zippers. As the family was desperate for some extra cash, he had sent his twelve year old son to a different town to work, and he never saw him again. He didn't have a photograph of his son to show police, and he didn't even know how to spell his son's name, and had no way of tracking him down. And traveling from city to another as part of the search is expensive, and Mahendra is forced to find extra work on the streets to save up for a bus fare. Tailang brings a sense of compassion to his performance as Mahendra. Apparently this story is not unique, as thousands and thousands of children go missing in India every year. Some are taken into trafficking, some into slavery, some into sexual slavery, some are taken for organs, and some are taken for indentured servitude in different countries. Siddharth is the sophomore feature film for Toronto based filmmaker Richie Mehta, who himself is of Indian descent and has a good understanding of the culture and problems facing contemporary India. His debut feature was Amal, about a rickshaw driver who inherited a fortune from one of his customers and found his life dramatically altered. Here again Mehta explores the class structure of India and shows us the disparity between the rich and the poor. But he also shows us the incredible generosity of spirit of Indians as many go out of their way to help Mahendra in his increasingly desperate and futile quest. Mehta captures the sights, the smells and the sounds of the crowded streets of New Delhi. Working closely with cinematographer Bob Gundu, who also worked with Mehta on his short film projects and experimental projects, he brings a documentary like realism to the film.