Rating: 2 stars; Plot: Cricketing prodigy coming out of a decrepit orphanage; Verdict: Good message, lost in communication; Box office prospects: With schools just reopening the kiddie’s films will have few takers.

Hunchbacked, black toothed John Kakkad (Rajesh Khera) runs an orphanage in his ghoulish way. He will make the young orphans sweep and swab the floors, make them sleep on threadbare mats and feed them unappetizing yellow rice! He encourages sycophants like Raghav (Raj Bhansali), older amongst all the intimates to squeal on the younger lot and dominate them. But 13 year old Karan (Zain Khan) and his cronies aren’t making his task any easier. Oppressed and neglected, the orphans line up hopefully on the weekly visit of prospective adopting parents. But no one wants grown up kids, they all go for babies and toddlers.

Now Karan finds a cricket bat in the donated toy box, engraved with KD’83- supposedly Kapil Dev’s bat which he amassed the winning score which got us a world cup. Since then, Karan develops a mysterious urge to hit it on the pitch. Playing gully cricket he whacks the ball for successive four and sixes. And one of his boundaries hits the dejected Indian coach’s car, the coach spots a prodigy and includes him in the Indian Cricket Team. Untrained and uninitiated, the 13 year old rookie wins the one dayer with his smashing skipper Varun (Rahul Bose).
Varun and Karan hit it off together and in the process Karan also manages to ease out differences between Varun and his estranged papa. In the climax, however, Raghav the ratty orphanage mate manages to snatch away Karan’s magic bat. Can Karan still manage to pull it off?

Debutant director, Kituu Salooja manages to pack in a couple of social messages about adopting older orphans and ironing out differences between parents and offspring’s, but then he goes overboard with his cinematic license in vesting extraordinary talent in his teen hero, who sans any practice, training or magic powers emerges as a savior of Team India.

All the child artists including Zain Khan make charming debuts but Rahul Bose and Meera Vasudevan look a tad weary playing their none too demanding roles in the film. Its not a very well bowled kiddies flick.

Producers: Ken Ghosh, Saregama Films, Director: Kituu Salooja, Cast: Rahul Bose, Zain Khan, Meera Vasudevan, Rajesh Khera