RIO 2: A riot of colour and fun

Rio 2 is a delightful little film, full of bubbly maverick characters. The story is of Blu, the city-bred, app-addicted blue macaw, his wild, fiesty wife - Jewel, their three prankster kids, their sundry friends and foes. This is also the story of endangered fauna of the Amazon forests, the fast disappearing green cover, and the efforts of some humans to preserve the delicate eco-system.

The beauty of the movie is in its brilliant frames, full of vibrant colour, and the pulsating music and splashy dances. The constant gags and witty one-liners keep us in splits, while driving home the point gently. We need to preserve our natural treasures, which face anhiliation at the hands of greedy businessmen.

There are a number of memorable scenes like the one where Jewel comes home with a hard-earned nut for breakfast, only to meet her pancake eating family glued to the TV. She concludes that it is time to introduce them to their natural habitat! Then there is the scene where she discovers that the stranger macaw threatening her husband is actually her long-lost father. The expressions on their faces are almost human! And there is the dangerous cockatoo, Nigel, spouting Shakespeare, and Gaby, the poisonous frog, singing opera music! What a lovely, ensemble cast, all in the brilliant background of firstly Rio, and then the Amazonian jungles.

I so wish we could make such films in India. Maybe we should forget about the technology (which anyway can be borrowed), and just delve deep into our environment for inspiration. Our Bengali Abol Tabol, or Urdu Mullah Naseeruddin or Telegu Tenali Rama were genuinely funny after all. But we need to think beyond our past treasures, and contemporarize our animation. Perhaps a witty tale about vanishing jungles or disappearing tigers or the dwindling turtle population?

Why can't we have a Chris Buck or Jennifer Lee or Carlos Saldanha in our midst?

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