Strictly for children because an adult who’s used to watching multiple genres of films might find “Pahuna: The Little Visitors” a touch boring. Not just because it’s a children’s film. We’ve watched and enjoyed numerous children’s movies before, but Pahuna, even with all its effort, lacks that charm to hold adult attention. At the same time, from children’s perspective, it could be a cute little film that also gives them a few handy moral lessons along the way.

A family fleeing violence in a hilly border area of Nepal makes tries to cross over to Sikkim in India. They join other villagers in the process and on their way, the children—Amrita, Pranay, and Bishal—get separated from their parents. The film does not give any timeline but from a few references in the dialogues, we can assume the date is right after the 2001 royal massacre in Nepal. The ages of the children are also never mentioned; perhaps the eldest Amrita (Ishika Gurung) as well as her younger brother Pranay (Anmoul Limboo) is around 10-12, with a couple of years between them. Bishal, the youngest, is an infant.

After the children get separated from their family, they join the villagers making their way to a church in Peling, Sikkim, seeking refuge. The group includes a know-it-all old man called Rai Budo (Mahendra Bajgai) who spins tales laced with false information about Christianity. The young children take his stories seriously and are instilled with deep fear of Christians, specially the church priest. Not wanting to risk their lives with Christians at the church, the children run way from the group and find themselves living in an abandoned bus in the jungle.

The story of Pahuna, even though it sometimes places children in rather harrowing situations, is a feel-good account of how children learn from their environment and adapt to it. Left alone with no adults to take care of them, Amrita and Pranay take on the role of breadwinners as well as caretakers for infant Bishal. They face conflicting situations as the film progresses and despite their young age, come up with solutions that will keep their family together. Young children become adults in Pahuna and display earnestness, accountability and dependability in a way that could inspire other children watching the movie.

Produced by successful Indian actress Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures, and written and directed by Paakhi A. Tyrewala, the 1hr 28mins drama has all the characteristics of a Bollywood feature film. The background score is lively, the original soundtracks melodious, and the cinematography able to capture the essence of the hills. The overall packaging is simple, organic, yet commercially sellable.

The dialogues of Biswas Timshina are the only let down. It is evident that the film has used mostly non-actors in all roles and acting coach Veena Mehta has done a decent job of grooming them to express themselves on screen.

But Timshina’s dialogues are so uninspiring, they take away the spark of the characters. Timshina seems to be trying too hard to suppress the Sikkimese Nepali argot. The need to represent a region with a sizable Nepali-speaking community is lost in Timshina’s efforts to make all conversations sound formal. As a result, in some scenes, the characters seem to be reading out of a Nepali textbook. In all fairness, it might be a deliberate move to make dialogues more comprehensible, but again, the dialogues do alienate the characters from their settings, which is a definite no-no.

Who should watch it?

Children should, and learn a few things maybe. Adults can definitely accompany them and guide them through the proceedings, as well as explain the situations that might be confusing for the young ones.

Rating:

2.5 stars

Pahuna

Genre: Drama

Actors: Ishika Gurung, Anmoul Limboo, Mahendra Bajgai

Director: Paakhi A. Tyrewala

Run time: 1hr 28 mins