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Canada, India · 2013
Rated PG · 1h 36m
Director Richie Mehta
Starring Rajesh Tailang, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Anurag Arora, Shobha Sharma Jassi
Genre Drama
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Mahendra Saini is a chai-wallah from Delhi. Short on money, Mahendra sends his 12-year old son, Siddharth, to work at a trolley factory. When Siddharth goes missing, Mahendra travels across India in search of his missing son, hoping to find him unharmed and working against the indifference of the people around him.
All this happens in an India that is both grim and beautiful: bustling, bureaucratic, colorful, harsh, full of cute children playing, full of downtrodden adults hustling for the next buck, full of life in general. It all feels very real. So does the ending.
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
The photography fascinates even when the story flags, and the film bristles with small revelations.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey
Simple but engrossing.
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
Canadian director Richie Mehta ("Amal") based Siddharth on his own random encounter with a father searching for his missing son, and the film never feels less than utterly real in its depiction of both everyday Indian life and the hopelessness that comes so naturally in this sort of tragic situation.
The Hollywood Reporter by Neil Young
This quietly impassioned indictment of child-labor takes its time to get going but then builds steadily to a surprisingly strong finale.
Though at times Siddharth can resemble a well-photographed report on India’s social and economic ills, Mehta subtly employs different styles to sustain the poetry, poignancy, and drama.
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
Mehta explores matters more complex and unsettling than movie-tidy, against-the-odds heroism. In Tailang's fine performance, the enormity of Mahendra's mission registers in all its devastating weight.
Washington Post by Stephanie Merry
The story itself never wavers when it comes to portraying the truth.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Its portrayal of impoverished, careworn people barking at one another and protecting their territory in a daily struggle is bracingly hardheaded.
A well-intentioned story of an impoverished father searching for his missing child is muddled by an ambitious sociological agenda in Richie Mehta's film.
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