Ella on MX Player Review: A Thought-Provoking Treat for Kids!

ELLA

Producers- Prateek Shetty, Kishore Kumar Puttur, Wolsey Tauro and Uday Kumar Shetty

Director- Roshan Fernandes

Cast- Makarand Deshpande, Isha Talwar, Saranya Sharma, Shivangi Mehra, Riya Chanda, Shakeel Sayni and Thamanna Shetty

Streaming on- MX Player

Rating:

By Jyothi Venkatesh

The small gem of a film revolves around a nine-year-old little smart girl who goes missing from her home, crosses paths with the cops, hard-core criminals and various mystics while trying to save her animal friend-an Indian tortoise. Shot predominantly in the exotic scenic locales of Mulki, Udupi, and Mangalore, Ella promises to take viewers on a mystical adventure like never before.

The film, which derives its title from the fairy tale Cinderella, follows 8-year-old Ella (Saranya Sharma) from Goa, who finds an Indian star tortoise and then ends up in Mangalore, while trying to keep her pet safe. The Indian Star tortoise is one of the most trafficked exotic animals, as it is considered a lucky charm in Feng Shui. Roshan’s film is largely set in Mulki in Mangalore, where Goan girl Ella lands up after she gets lost.

Cinematographer Jerin James has rendered a brilliant job of cranking the camera of the rich as well as exotic locales. Transcending various genres, the film Ella which has enchanting and lively music as well as background music by the Kantara film fame Ajanesh Loknath set to meaningful lyrics by Mandar Pathak sets out to offer to the discerning viewers a cinematic experience of a different kind altogether that is not only enchanting but also quite thought-provoking at the same time and is definitely set to be a treat for children and adults alike.

Also read: Mohanlal: “Language is not at all a barrier to good cinema”

As far as the performances of the actors in the film, all I can say is that Saranya Sharma has lived her difficult role of the eight-year-old smart little Ella while Makarand Deshpande has done more than ample justice to his role as the mentor of Ella. As the grown up Ella, Isha Talwar does well

The debutant filmmaker Roshan Fernandes has gone on record that his actual idea was to make a children’s film inspired by Vishal Bharadwaj’s Makdee, Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari’s Chillar Party and also Mani Ratnam’s Anjali. This was the genre that he was looking at, a kind of mystery thriller, though meant for children. As a newbie filmmaker, with no backing, this was the best start possible, as far as Roshan was concerned.