‘Thanks Maa’ chonicles the unhappy life of a twelve-year old who is homeless and living in the endless shantytowns that are an integral part of Mumbai. The film promises to be good one.

The other kids on the street call the homeless kid 'Muncipalty Ghatkopar', as he was abandoned on the streets when he was a baby.

Leading a hungry and destitute life on the streets and unhappy of being motherless, he one day finds a two month old baby dumped at the steps of a children’s home.

He doesn’t want the kid to grow up without a mother; hence decides to hunt for the infant’s mother with his street friends who stand by him to achieve this major task.

Cast and Crew
‘Thanks Maa’, directed by debutant Irfan Kamal, stars Shams Patel, Alok Nath, Raghuveer Yadav, Barry John, Sanjay Mishra and Ranvir Shorey.

The exciting performance by Sham Patel has even bagged him a National Award.

Story-line
The film opens up with a bunch of kids on the streets cuffed and buffeted through the world ––despised by all and pitied by none, they are ushered into the world of sorrow and trouble, aimlessly living in local trains, polishing shoes and getting back home at night.

Muncipalty Ghatkopar (Shams Patel) who takes up the mission to reunite the infant with its mother, stumbles upon hackman, whoremongers, an abusive dad (Yateen Karyekar), traitorous husbands (Ranvir Shorey), drug addicts (Sanjay Mishra), models discarding illegitimate kids (Rukhsar), hysterical mothers, pedophiliac caretakers at the reformatory (Alok Nath), in his self-imposed journey for a reunion.

In this all pervasive evil world, the brave kid who is caught between the conflict of good and evil remains humane with a baby in his hand.

The picaresque journey and adventures of the kid (Sham Patel) with the abandoned baby are refreshing, creating a combination of realism.

Bottom-line
If you have a yen for watching gritty and realistic films, then this makes it worth your while. The unbeatable performances of the kids leave you enthralled.

The characterizations are flawless and the director has etched their roles with care. The undermining part in the movie is only the foul language, but it does go well with the characters.

‘Thanks Maa’ looks great and captures the gritty reality of truth.