Chhota Bheem And The Curse Of Damyaan Movie Review : Young kids may enjoy, but effects and plot miss the mark

Story: Bheem (Yagya Bhasin) and his friends travel back 1,000 years to a magical city, Sonapur, to stop a demon Damyaan (Sumit Keshri) from achieving immortality and turning every living person into a snake.

Review: Toddlers’ favourite cartoon character, Chhota Bheem, is on an adventure with his friends from Dholakpur in this live-action outing. The film captures the show's spirit with humor provided by Kalia (Kabir Sajid) and his gang, along with showdowns against fantastical creatures.

While the narrative aims for a grand adventure, some elements (like the fantastical worlds) and effects are gimmicky and feel over-the-top. The story tackles familiar territory with time travel and a battle against a demon. However, stuffing action sequences into the narrative overshadows the story. One will witness Bheem take on many creatures such as a giant spider, scorpion, tiger, etc., but the execution and effects could have been better to make it a wholesome experience. After a point, these fights seem repetitive.

The plot is about a demon named Damyaan, who needs a pure and selfless warrior to open the crypt he's been imprisoned in for 1,000 years. His aides, Takshika (Navneet Kaur Dhillon) and Skandi (Makrand Deshpande), infiltrate Dholakpur, fool Raja Indraverma (Sanjay Bishnoi), and take Bheem and his friends to the buried city, Sonapur, to bring their plan to fruition. This is where the story could have ended, but writers Shridisha Dilip and Niraj Vikram take the film 1,000 years back in time, making the narrative convoluted and long-winding. Songs set the pace back and add to the movie’s length, wihout enhancing the story or taking it forward.

Yagya Bhasin as Bheem is passable, though he performs the stunts well. Kabir Sajid as Kalia, Divyam Dawar and Daivik Dawar as his stooges Dholu-Bholu, and Advik Jaiswal as Raju perform well and provide a few chuckles. While Navneet Kaur Dhillon is average, Makrand Deshpande and Anupam Kher provide ample support.

Young children may love seeing Bheem's classic encounters with Kalia and his gang, along with the exciting fights against monsters. But the length won’t hold their attention in entirety and it may not appeal to older kids and adults.