- Starring
- Aaqil Hoosen, Shaan Nathoo, Amith Sing
- Writer
- Judy Naidoo
- Director
- Judy Naidoo
- Rating
- TV-14 (United States)
- Running Time
- 87 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
This year has not given most of us much reason to smile but is has featured a few bright spots as far as films are concerned. Kings of Mulberry Street, technically a 2019 film in South Africa, has finally made its way to North America and will be sure to put a smile on most audiences’ faces throughout its very digestible sub 90 minute running time. This Bollywood-inspired family action comedy is an absolute blast thanks to the energy of its two young newcomer leads. Sure, it may be predictable and the other subplots may not be nearly as strong though those are easy to look past. Unfortunately, the one thing that may hold it back for some audiences was the language barrier. Though the film is in English with the film still offering subtitles, besides some archival Bollywood footage, some of the accents do take some getting used to while some of the subtitles didn’t seem quite right.
Kings of Mulberry Street tells the story of two very different young nine-year-old boys named Ticky (Hoosen) and Baboo (Nathoo) from the harsh 1980’s Sugarhill District who eventually come together towards a common goal. Ticky was a street-smart, fiery, Bollywood-loving rebel while Baboo was a shy and reserved newcomer to the neighborhood, moving in with his academic dad Dev (Amith Sing). Told to keep to himself and to stay away from Ticky, Baboo inevitably gravitated towards him as a result of their shared threat of local bully and crime boss, Raja (Neville Pillay). This threat would test their friendship as the two turned to Bollywood heroes as an answer to their problem. Their antics were so fun to watch but the realization that it could only go so far, having to come to terms that it was real life, was also surprisingly powerful as well.
In the end, the best part of Kings of Mulberry Street was the performances of Hoosen and Nathoo as Ticky and Baboo. Their energy, especially the former, truly made the film as fun as it was. The film was over-the-top for the most part but their youthful enthusiasm was the element that grounds it all. Meanwhile, the other performances were solid across the board with Kogie Naidoo stealing scenes as Granny Chetty.
At the end of the day, Kings of Mulberry Street couldn’t have come at a better time.
still courtesy of MUBI
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.