Kings of Mulberry Street review – Director tries too hard

Writer and director Judy Naidoo has introduced a colourful slice of life as seen through the eyes of two adventurous children in her latest film offering, Kings of Mulberry Street.

It rekindles a time when she was a child growing up in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Verulam in the 1980s.

Kings of Mulberry Street is about the fictional town of Sugarhill District and the antics of two Indian boys from different backgrounds.

They have to overcome their differences and pool their skills to defeat a local crime lord, Raja (Neville Pillay), boasting a shiny gold tooth, who is tormenting the community.

Kings of Mulberry Street. Picture: Indigenous Film Distribution

His massive “assistant” is called Size and played by Keshan Chetty. He is a clumsy, larger-than-life individual and provides the comic foil to the wicked Raja.

Fashioned as a comedy, this production attempts to squeeze laughter from real-life situations. It might have been more successful had it used a more subtle approach to both the characterisation and script.

The adults, unfortunately, remain too stereotypical, are somewhat childish and not entirely credible.

Though the film touches on facets such as a child’s innocence and vulnerability, these aspects are not fully realised and had they been fully explored it would have added a degree of substance to the film.

What we are left with, basically, is a thieving and irritating nine-year-old rascal, Ticky Chetty (Aaqil Hoosen), with a penchant for uttering the same phrase “Ek sê” after just about every sentence, and Baboo Harold Singh (Shaan Nathoo), his naive, chubby sidekick, of the same age.

Kings of Mulberry Street. Picture: Indigenous Film Distribution

Baboo’s unfortunate circumstances reflect an often common malaise in today’s society, where a child is left lonely and unsupervised because a single parent is forced to spend days away from home for work. It is not clear what has happened to his mother.

The boy is influenced by the rebellious Ticky and is not strong enough to stand up for himself and so is easily led astray.

Popular Indian character actress Kogie Naidoo plays an old granny with fire in her belly who dispenses wry comments from time to time, while comedian Chris Forrest surfaces as yet another bumbling character in search of a more meaningful script.

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Cast: Aaqil Hoosen, Shaan Nathoo, Neville Pillay, Kogie Naidoo.
Director: Judy Naidoo.
Classification: 13 LV.

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