The story of Atkan Chatkan is about 12-year-old rags to riches street musician Guddu played by AR Rahman’s student Lydian Nadhaswaram who becomes a successful percussionist after overcoming all the obstacles in his way. It is a well-known fact that music can cross all boundaries and talent can level everything.
The story is half fictional and half reality inspired by the life of famous Shivamani or Drums Sivamani who has composed the music for the movie. The film is about Guddu (Lydian) and his three friends Madhav (Yash Rane), Chuttan (Sachin Chaudhary) and Meethi (Tamanna Dipak) as they roam around in a UP town, trying to make money by defeating all the obstacles.
Guddu is not homeless like the other three kids but a drunk father who forces his son to earn money for the family is also of no good. Guddu is a chai delivery boy who is not trained in music but can create music out of anything. He has a good understanding of sound. His hands are not still even for a minute and he can tap and play on any object he gets with a rhythm. The boy does not have any hope of a renowned music school to admit him in their school so he tries to get in a local orchestra to learn the basics.
The orchestra people also don’t entertain him. After getting rejected from everywhere, the bunch of kids find solitude in each other and form a band to feed themselves. As we all know, necessity is the mother of invention. The kids create instruments from recycled and scrap materials. They make history despite having limited means. Atkan Chatkan is predictable and follows the over-simplistic expression approach.
Guddu’s violent and drunk father, missing mother, upper-class bullies, bad employers, lost childhood and begging groups is what the story is all about. Shiv Hare wants you to have sympathy toward the protagonist. It is fine if the sentiment comes organically. Once it starts looking forced, it feels a little fictional and overvalued.
There are creators and expert judges. You are born with them. Lydian Nadhaswaram is a child prodigy trained by Maestro AR Rehman on YouTube playing piano. The boy is a creator and his choice as Guddu is the trump card of the movie. As he is a musician, he easily slips in the character and looks convincing. His beats are well performed and every emotion the music carries is authentic.
