Helicopter Ela is inspired from the Gujarati play, ‘ Beta Kaagdo’, a story of a single mother who make her son’s wellbeing as the main and only purpose of her living existence but she ends up losing herself and her son in this persistent quest.
The film begins with Sunita Rao’s popular lilting ‘ Pari Hoon Main playing on the radio in the background while we get introduced to Eela Raiturkar, (Kajol) who is a budding singer of the 90’s but now her life revolves around her 20 year old son Vivaan ( Riddhi Sen). She over does by not only following him in the real but also in the virtual world so much so that she turns up at his college as a fellow student.
Directed by Pradeep Sarkar who has set the stage for the generation confrontation right from the start of the film. However, he chooses to introduce the first half of the film with the good old music of the early 90’s with a rage of Baba Sehgal and other Indie Pop musician top charts.
Story written by Anand Gandhi and Mitesh Shah who convey the ups and downs of a married life between the couple (Kajol and Tota Roy Chowdhury). Though Riddhi Sen who plays Kajol’s son is a National award winning Bengali actor the film totally belongs to Kajol who is dominating every frame. Her portrayal as the single possessive mother who loves her child is so convincing and enduring that it deserves applause while Neha Dhupia has performed well in her limited role. The soundtrack is by Amit Trivedi with some quirky lyrics that adds on to the right notes by Kajol the actress who as the singer on the cusp hits off the super stardom or as the pushy and doting mother, she simply lights up the screen with her effortless performance as always.
Overall the film Helicopter Ela is a fun movie that manages some laughs and is an endearing tale of a motherly love.
