Mazhabi Laddu

This is a charming story of a child called Azeem. He has innocent ideas and dreams. The film unfolds in a typical small town of U.P. Young Azeem lives with his sister and parents surrounded by noisy neighbours, naughty friends, busy shop-keepers, greedy goats, mischievous monkeys, fairs, mosques and temples. His father works as a halwai in a sweetmeat shop and Azeem loves to hang around there. His mother likes to fuss over him overly whilst she trains his sister to keep house. His friends like to play and roam around in old monuments and open pastures. All in all – an idyllic life. Azeem loves the sweets prepared in his father’s shop specially the laddus but the owner keeps an eagle eye. Moreover the laddus are made for ‘prasad’ which is purchased by devotees as offerings to their Gods. Azeem and his friends attempt to partake of the prized laddus even as they fear that heavens may fall if they actually do. It is an enticing tale of friendship with a Goat called Salim and a friend called Ikram. The fearful biases of elders and curiosity of little children. Innocence wins over differences. We are restrained by religious tenets yet we yearn for and seek to know the ‘other’. For together we rise..