‘Hari Puttar’ – a kids’ film with comedy and suspense

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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‘Hari Puttar – A Comedy of Errors’, which Hollywood studio Warner Bros alleged was a copyright violation of their ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, bears no similarity to the English film series and is actually the story of a lonely kid played by Zain Khan.

The film, which releases Friday, is directed by Lucky Kohli and Rajesh Bajaj. Produced by Mirchi Movies, it also stars talented Sarika along with Jackie Shroff.

‘It is a fun film and a family entertainer. The film has nothing in common with the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise as the story suggests. The ‘Hari Puttar’ name has been in the news and has appeared at places for the last 18 months,’ Munish Purii, COO of Mirchi Movies, told IANS.

The story seems to be loosely based on hit Hollywood series ‘Home Alone’. It revolves around 10-year-old Hari Prasad Dhoonda (Zain Khan) or Hari Puttar, as he is fondly called.

Hari’s father (Zakir Khan) is a professor and is assigned to work on a secret project at a remote location in Britain. So Hari moves there from India with his father and mother (Sarika).

Hari’s father has access to confidential information that is stored on a chip and safely kept at his house.

Within days of their arrival in London, Hari’s aunt (Lilette Dubey) and uncle DK (Jackie Shroff) visit them with their children. The kids of DK’s boss also accompany them.

Now, accommodating so many children in the house becomes a problem. At one point everything goes for a spin for Hari – not only he is thrown out of his room, he is also ragged and ridiculed by all the other kids.

Hari suddenly feels unwanted. But then when people try and steal his dad’s secret chip, he displays valour and wit that shock everyone.

‘It talks about the freedom of a child when he is left alone in the house with his cousin and the funny situations that follow when two burglars try getting into the house to get hold of a chip that his father has been secretly working on,’ said Purii.

So far very few children’s films have made it big at the box office. But the legal controversy surrounding the movie may help draw some curious moviegoers.