Shortcut Safari– Shortcut to Learning

Shortcut Safari– Shortcut to Learning

2.5 stars

Recently released movie,”Shortcut Safaari – Nature ki Pathshala”, where seven urban kids who get stuck in dense forest – far away from their homes and families during their school outing. The movie can be framed as an attempt to reconnect us with our roots – nature – which they have achieved considerably.

Shortcut Safaari is directed by Amitabha Singh and Produced by Amitabha Singh, Kashyap A Shah and Amigos Fin-o-tainment under the banners of Xebec Films Pvt. Ltd., Amigos Fin-o-tainment. The main theme of the movie is “Nature Conservation/ Environment” along with this it also touches upon the pillars of “cleanliness” and “gender parity”. In fact, it is for the first-time ever that, an Indian director has made a movie associated with nature and kids as its main theme, which is definitely a need of the hour.

The film is entertaining as well as informative. In the movie kids are depicted as “enjoying” the time spent alone in the forest, because they were experiencing nature for the first time.

The movie revolves around seven kids – baby ‘Tara’; big bully ‘Ankur’; smarty ‘Krituporno’; fashionable ‘Hiya’; brave ‘Rahul’; careful ‘Samir’ and wise ‘Shinjini’ – who end up in an car accident and get stranded in the middle of a thick forest. The car driver seeks out to get some help and leaves the children stranded in the middle of the forest. All the children spend their first night inside the broken car but the next day starts to wander inside the forest. This starts a new journey in the life of these seven kids and their involvement with nature.

The cinematography has been completed by Mrinal Desai, who has successfully transferred the forest into life. However, the “poachers” who were deployed to bring comedy in the movie, fail miserably at it. But that seems to be covered by Jimmy Shergill’s entrance as a tribe leader in a pivotal role.

“Shortcut Safaari” comes with an entertaining story of exploration and adventure through the eyes of these children. Who, in turn, gain values on mutual respect, team spirit and perseverance on one hand; and the vital relevance of a sustainable environment with a balanced wildlife on the other. Not a perfect film, it is full of imperfections and slightly flawed storyline. But, overall a good attempt. We need cinema like this to connect with kids at a personal level.