Sniff !!! Movie Review: Cute But Not Emotionally Engaging

In a world where superheroes are required to wear capes in order to fight dastardly villains, Amole Gupte’s Sunny Gill is like a breath of fresh air. A cute little Sikh lad who can solve crimes with the help of his super-sensitive nose, Sunny Gill of Sniff is a superhero for underdogs. Set in Mumbai, ‘Sniff’ is about Sunny (Khushmeet Gill), who hails from a family of pickle-makers and is the cause of everyone’s concern because he is nasally-challenged. Needless to say, this makes Sunny’s life miserable too in various ways. However, when a freak accident in a defunct chemistry lab at school causes his nose to get super sensitive, Sunny decides to use his new superpower to fight crime-specifically a gang of car thieves, who are targeting the neighborhood. How Sunny manages to do this, forms the rest of the plot… Khushmeet Gill, who plays the protagonist Sunny, is cute enough, especially because he is not over-trained like most child actors. Sushmita Mukherjee as the Bengali cop, provides a dose of humour with her quirky character while the rest of the cast is decent enough too. As the film goes, ‘Sniff’ is a cute fare which can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, despite the fact that there are parts which may confuse the viewers. For example- why does Sunny enter the defunct laboratory, has never been explained. Also, why does Sunny need to sniff things from up close when he can apparently smell things from kilometres away is another mystery that has not been explained properly. Another thing that doesn’t work for the film is the fact that it doesn’t touch an emotional chord with you. Unlike other kiddie flicks like ‘Taare Zameen Par’ or ‘Chillar Party’, ‘Sniff’ doesn’t engage you emotionally, which is a big drawback. However, if you want a cute superhero story, ‘Sniff’ is not a bad option…