Ziprya

Ziprya Story: Based on the late Arun Sadhu’s novel of the same name, Ziprya revolves around a group of boot-polish kids from Mumbai who struggle to make ends meet but work sincerely.

Ziprya Review: Mumbai’s slum-dwellers have been the subjects of umpteen films, Hindi as well as Marathi, till date and frankly, there is hardly anything new that each such film explores. The story, especially if centred around one protagonist, tends to follow the beaten path which includes the individual’s tryst with poverty, crime, discrimination and his subsequent rise above all this to make a name for himself. Ziprya takes the same route.

Kisna aka Ziprya (Kambli) is a boot-polish guy who is fed up with the way their gang-leader Pinglya Ustaad (Purnapatre) treats them. During an altercation between the two, Pinglya trips, falls on the railway track and is crushed to death. Following the incident, Ziprya is elected the leader of the gang that consists of Narya (Kulkarni), Aslam (Parab), Taklya (Jagtap) and two other kids. But Ziprya is nothing like Pinglya. He is considerate, generous and wants all the kids to grow in life and lead good lives. He goes to great lengths to ensure that. How Ziprya goes from a gang-leader to an educated young man is what the film explores.

In its true essence, Arun Sadhu’s story is quite touchy and realistic. It delves into the tumultuous lives of youngsters who are deprived of their basic rights and the phases they go through. However, despite some very good performances from youngster Kambli and Amruta Subhash (who plays Ziprya’s sister), the film suffers in execution.

Filmmaker Kedar Vaidya and his team has tried to squeeze in as many things as possible in a running time of 135 mins. Right from stressing on the importance of education to avoiding smoking, there are a lot of elements that are handled in an amateurish way and make the film patchy and a bit tardy to watch. Many characters also come across as unnecessarily loud in some scenes.

To sum it up, Ziprya has its heart in the right place but is a film that only touches upon an interesting story. You can risk a watch.