Little Zizou (2008)

Blistering performances.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I don't know if I am elibigle to be a reviewer considering i watched this movie for only the first 30 mins. Well I guess I am very eligible to be a reviewer because to be honest, I couldn't handle more. Its a terribly self indulgent attempt at film making with the director under the impression that just showing a parsi neighborhood and throwing in parsi phrases can make up for the lack of substance in general and a script in particular. It certainly is not so. The film might actually have have a story which someone who stays on for the full length might be rewarded with. However I just didn't think the risk reward was worth it!

I have a peeve with the makers of Little Zizou - why are the trailers so bad ?? For such a wonderful movie couldn't they made the trailers a little more interesting? Even I could have made them better trailers than the ones airing now ... Little Zizou is a movie about the parsis, made by the parsis. Most of the cast - with the exception of Imaad Shah - are parsis. So is the director Sooni Taraporewala. But the appeal of the movie is universal - mainly because it says what it has to say so humorously. The movie is about Cyrus II Khodaiji - a self proclaimed religious scholar and healer who fancies himself as the next messiah. As is the rule of the world, crazies like him attract more media attention and soon his 'Back to purity' BTP campaign has a large fan following. It is also about Boman Presswala (played by Boman Irani), editor of the Parsi newspaper Rustam-e-Sohrab. He is the sane voice of the community and just doesn't miss an opportunity to ridicule Khodaiji in his paper. Caught in between this are Khodaiji's two sons - Xerxes and Artaxerxes (Imaad Shah - Naseeruddin Shah's son). Having lost his mother at childbirth, 11 year old Xerxes is an unloved kid as his father is busy playing messiah. The only thing that he really loves is football - more specifically Zinedane Zidane (or Zizou). And more than home he prefers spending time at Boman Presswala's home - where Roxy aunty (Boman's wife) mothers the poor motherless boy. And this irritates Boman's younger daughter Liana no end - she thinks her mother likes little Zizou more.His elder brother Artxerxes - or Art - is a soft-spoken young man with a very artistic hand - and no love lost for his father. He is a graphic artist who keeps sketching interesting scenes he encounters everyday in his artbook. And these drawings are interspersed liberally in the movie. He also prefers Boman's home more - because of Boman's other daughter Xenobia. But this equilibrium is shattered when Khodaiji becomes obsessed with preventing foreigners - Russians, Brazilians etc - from adopting the Zoroaster faith. He even forms an army called Parsi Liberation Organization to defend the Parsi faith and from here things go downhill in the lives of everyone around him.Sooni Taraporevala has crafted a simple yet entertaining world - all from the eyes of Little Zizou. Both the kids - Zizou and Liana - perform superbly, especially Zizou. He is endearing and evokes sympathy, without seemingly making an effort. And Liana is your irritating younger sister, who will spill all your secrets. But the star of the show is undoubtedly Boman Irani. He is so full of life its a joy watching him - especially during the 'Italiano Mamu' song !There are a lot of other characters in bit roles throughout the movie - including Cyrus Broacha, John Abraham and Shiamak Davar - its more like all the parsis you ever saw in any form of media. But they all gel together amazingly well - mainly because somehow, the director seems to have convinced these people that there isn't a camera on them. All the lead actors perform so naturally as if they were actually leading their normal lives in some Parsi colony !Little Zizou is a must watch because of the wonderful humour and the subtle message cloaked effectively in all that fun - about the conflict between the liberals and the religious zealots. Watch it to remind yourself just why Boman Irani is so fabulous - and for a little more insight into the world of parsis.I regularly write about movies at http://bisprad.blogspot.com

Written, directed and produced by Sooni Taraporevala and distributed by Studio 18, Little Zizou just manages to make it to the above average category. Sooni Taraporevala has been a part of almost every Mira Nair venture right from Salaam Bombay to The Namesake. After such a vast experience with different genres of movies, the expectation bar was already set high for Sooni with Little Zizou which does not even come close to the movies that she's previously worked on. Little Zizou is definitely a fresh script that simply is made for the multiplex audience. The movie is a little funny and a little emotional had it been funny or emotional completely, it would've done the trick.Little Zizou is a story of 2 Parsi Families called the Khodaiji's and Pressvala's. Cyrus Khodaiji (Sohrab Ardeshir) who claims to be a religious Parsi healer wanting to establish a liberation organization for the Parsi's is often troubled by his Parsi counterpart Boman Pressvala (Boman Irani) who owns a Parsi news journal and is against the values and principles of Cyrus Khodaiji and makes sure to print articles against him every time. The youngest little boy of the Khodaiji family is Xerxes or Little Zizou (Jahan Bativala), a football freak who idolizes Zinedine Zidane and hopes to meet the football star if he ever toured Mumbai. His brother Artaxerxes (Imad Shah), a soft spoken artist and who visualizes life through his weird cartoons and dreams to build a Flight Simulator with his two other friends. The young little girl of the Pressvala's is Liana, who is clever and witty. The story just revolves around this subject and things go way too complicated when people react to the articles written by Boman Pressvala. The events that follow is to watch out for.Little Zizou is a movie that could be watched once. It entertains you convincingly till the first half concludes but gets a little slow as you step into the second half. What is really good about the movie is, it keeps you with it till the end credits roll. The two child actors, Iyanah Bativala and Jahan Bativala steal the show. They're absolutely lovely and they make you love them as you watch the movie. They're naive and funny. Sohrab Ardeshir, who's seen mostly in ad-films gets his nod to show his acting skills and is impressive too. Boman Irani is very good as usual. Dilshad Patel, Shernaz Patel and Imad Shah have their done their bit convincingly.Music by Bickram Ghosh is ordinary and suits the subject of the movie quite well. Little Zizou could be your movie for this weekend, provided there are many releases this week.I will go with 7 out of 10 for Sooni Taraporevala's Little Zizou.And a thumbs up to the two child actors of the movie.Raghav Movie Critic, Writer's Loungefor more reviews: www.raghavthecritic.blogspot.com

A gem of a film, funny and complicated and moving. The actors are so much at ease with their roles that they seem not to be performing at all, resulting in one of the most endearing depictions of family I've ever seen. The relationships are all carefully and lovingly etched - between Boman Presswala (Boman Irani, enjoying himself to the hilt as always - watch him when he's practicing dance steps) and his wife Mahabanu (the pitch-perfect Zenobia Shroff - where has she been hiding all this while?); between Zizou (Jahan Battiwala, who does a great job of being believably vulnerable without being a goody-goody kid) and his elder brother Art (Imaad Shah's finally found a role that he seems to fit right into, after the travails of Yun Hota To Kya Hota and Dil, Dosti, etc); between Mahabanu and her mother (Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, who turns in an absolutely brilliant performance as the slightly batty, but still full of joie de vivre mother). Not to be missed.