Film: “Maruti Mera Dosst”; Cast: Chandrachur Singh, Ritika Shrivastava, Erik A. Nanda, Sushmita Mukherji, Murli Sharma, Vindoo Dara Singh and Shahbaaz Khan; Director: Manikya Raju; Rating: **

Chandrachur Singh would have to wait for a while before he could actually term a movie as a ‘comeback film’. That’s because “Maruti Mera Dosst” is certainly not the film that would bring him back in the reckoning.

Two years after his last release “Sarhad Paar”, Chandrachur Singh is seen once again on the silver screen. In this ‘part live, part animation’ film, he reprises the role of a Mr. Richie Rich who has lost his wife and has to raise a child (Ritika Shrivastava) all by himself.

So the basic plot of “Maruti Mera Dosst” pretty much is on the same lines as 2000 film “Raju Chacha”. We have a huge mansion, a doting father, an innocent child, some scheming relatives, including one played by Sushmita Mukherji, and a horde of villains like those essayed by Murli Sharma and Shahbaaz Khan, and finally an ultimate dost (friend).

In “Raju Chacha”, this ‘dost’ was a friendly thief (Ajay Devgan) while in “Maruti Mera Dosst”, it is Lord Hanuman himself who comes in the form of a kid called Maruti (Erik Nanda).

In between all the evil schemes of eliminating the poor little rich girl, there are also some funny antics as the child artistes take it upon themselves to teach their tormentors a lesson. With the target audience being kids, these are enjoyable pieces, especially with all the special effects involved.

While it is known throughout the film’s narrative that eventually good will win over evil, one looks forward to a reasonably high impact climax where it becomes a full-on battle between the demons and god.

The background score works perfectly fine, cinematography enhances the scary moments, actors make an impact in spite of being loud and the special effects become an integral part of the narrative.

However, if one talks about the visibility and commercial prospects of “Maruti Mera Dosst”, they seem weak due to a number of reasons.

First and foremost the film has arrived literally unannounced with minimal promotion. Second, the film doesn’t boast of a huge star cast. Third, the stand-off between producers and multiplexes is over and so audiences could choose to save their money for a huge line-up of biggies that start releasing next week.

Moreover, films in India that have boasted of animation elements haven’t had it good at the box office in the past. In 2008, there were quite a few films with animation thrown in that released but not one of them was a success.

Whether it was “Roadside Romeo”, “My Friend Ganesha 2″, “Jumbo”, “Dashavatar”, “Ghatothkach” or “Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang” - all of them fizzled out.