The film contrasts the harsh realities of child labour with the dreaminess of the gang. Guddu sees a vision of himself in a bus: big smile, clean clothes, shiny guitar. His friends get by by begging on buses. One of them, Chuttan (Sachin Chaudhary), hangs currency notes as dreamcatchers. The band creates DIY instruments from junk: chimes, drums, xylophones. There's a buffet of everyday percussive sounds, which are rendered so well that the actual soundtrack - featuring Sonu Nigam, Hariharan and Amitabh Bachchan - fades in comparison.
As a musical, Atkan Chatkan sticks strictly to template. A benign principal discovers the band and puts them in a competition. The role of Spruha Joshi, as an adjunct music teacher, is not hard to predict. It all leads up to a finale that can be seen from miles. Still, this is a fun film to sit through, owing largely to the energetic cast and Shivmani's zippy percussions. It's no surprise that two of the best passages play out silently, with just Guddu and his music. Words are an intrusion in his young composer's mind.
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