99. Aaja Mexico Challiye; movie review

 

AAJA MEXICO CHALLIYE

Cert 12A

153 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate threat, violence

Hold on - the vegetation in a Central American jungle doesn't have much in common with an English forest, does it?

And yet the locations of Aaja Mexico Challiye are very obviously UK rather than Panama.

Indeed, I was constantly distracted by trying to work out whether Mrs W and I had traipsed the same route on one of our walks.

No surprise then that the characters in Rakesh Dhawan's film weren't even getting a sweat on despite supposedly walking for days through the tropics.

The backdrop is typical of the film's lack of attention to detail which detracts from the very serious points it is trying to make.

Aaja Mexico Challiye stars Ammy Virk as Pamma - a young man who can't see his future at his village in the Punjab.

Therefore, by hook or usually by crook, he gathers enough money to pay an agent to get him to the land of opportunity - America.

However, these are unscrupulous people who prey on dreams and simply fleece their naive clients.

One of them is Pamma who clearly hasn't done much research because when his flight dumps him in Ecuador, he seems to think it is a mere taxi ride to America rather than 7,000 miles.

He is not alone in his stupidity - thus, he becomes part of a group who embark upon a trek which would take them to the promised land.

For perspective - this would be more than twice as far as Kochi in the far south of India to Amritsar in the extreme north.

Or seven times from Land's End To John O'Groats.

This, we are led to believe, is being done by mainly trudging in Wellington boots with just water and bread as rations - on a route which includes Panama's Rain Forest.

Oh, and none of the participants looks as though they have grown any hair, lost weight or even sweated in the meantime.

Some may say I am being pernickety but Aaja Mexico Challiye was tackling an important issue of illegal immigration by desperate Indians into the United States - a subject which was deserving of deep exploration rather than semi-comedy with an absurd backdrop.

Perhaps the makers of Shawan's film didn't have the finances to do the issue justice. Regardless, it needed to be handled much more smartly.

Reasons to watch: Really interesting subject

Reasons to avoid: Lack of attention to detail

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know? In January of 2022, an immigrant Indian family of four, including an 11-year-old and three-year-old were found frozen to death just 12 metres from the US border in Canada where they had been dropped by an agent.

The final word. Ammy Virk: "That there are people from India, from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal who are undertaking these donkey routes. Some travel by road, some travel via boats, crossing seas and some travel through dense forests.  When you watch the film you will understanding what harrowing conditions people undertake on such a journey." Gulf News

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