In October, when Nisha turned four, Leone and husband Daniel threw her a Frozen-themed party. Pic courtesy/ Sunny Leone

How is an animation character giving children, both boys and girls, life goals on family values, resilience and gender rights while dancing her way to box office history?
Chandrima Pal (MID-DAY; November 24, 2019)

Nine-year-old Yana Arora, a resident of Bhandup, postponed her birthday party by a week so that she could celebrate a special movie date with her friends. It is no ordinary film, but one that has left an impression on her since she watched it the first time. As Elsa and Anna, Kristoff and Olaf and a bunch of magical creatures sprang to life on the 3D screen, Yana squealed. They were right there—her favourite characters "in forever"— Anna would have said. Elsa, the Queen of Arendelle, with her powers to make ice out of thin air, was a superhero she could call her own, unlike an action hero from the comic book universe that seemed to add a Catwoman here and a Wonder Woman there, as after-thought. Yana, like Tiana Dutta in Kolkata or Erisha Yadav in Noida, is a fan of Queen Elsa—flawed, fierce, fabulous and the possessor of some serious swag.

November 22 was a life event for young girls around the world, as Disney's keenly awaited sequel to Frozen hit theatres. Bikram Duggal, Head, Studio Entertainment, Disney India, in a conversation with Sunday mid-day, revealed, that it is by far the most "asked for" sequel in Disney's history. "Wherever we went—forums, events, screenings—parents and children would inquire about a sequel, even before it was announced. That's how much people have connected with the film. Till the live action re-imagination of The Lion King appeared in August this year. Frozen was Disney's highest grossing film with global ticket sales of $1.287 billion.

But revenues don't always tell you the real story. Ask parents, siblings and educationists and they will tell you how the animation with its ridiculously popular music, has been a useful parenting tool, a baby sitter, a mentor and a glue for families.

Yana's mother, Yogini, is a mind coach and as much a Frozen fan as her daughter. She finds the story about a young queen to be useful while communicating with her daughter, and some of her other younger clients. "Of all the characters to have come out of the Disney Studios, Elsa offers the most positive and inspiring life lessons." Particularly useful is the film's powerful and fresh take on the usual life skills and values—self belief, fearlessness, acceptance, and sibling love.

So enamoured was Yana with the story that for the longest time, all she wanted was a sibling to recreate some of the magic she witnessed on screen between the world's most famous sisters. "Think about it, the film tells you that girls do not need to be rescued. Family matters. There is something special in everybody, even if you do not have visible superpowers, you can be as heroic as Anna. The list just keeps growing with every viewing," Yogini says.

Frozen, with its feminist and contemporary twist to the story of Hans Christian Andersen's classic of Snow Queen marks a clean departure from the problematic narrative about pretty, but powerless princesses and saviour princes. Part of its stupefying success lies in the subliminal messaging and its timing. Even in a far more serious sequel, it connected immediately with young girls and parents, who had a Harry Potter, yes, but perhaps wanted more of Hermione Granger. But it also means different things to different people.

"It is often an ice-breaker, pun intended," says Afsha Khan Jayapal, a Bengaluru-based professional, who creates activity modules for young children and swears by the film's ability to break through cultural and demographic barriers. "I have always been a Frozen fan. Before my son was born, there were nights when I would come home after a long day at work, kick off my heels and dance around the house to Let it Go or First Time in Forever," she says. "Come to think of it, Tangled, which tried to rewrite the Rapunzel story with a strong feminist sub text, could have been as impactful. But at the end of the day, Rapunzel was still tied down by her hair, literally. "In the case of Elsa, there is nothing holding her back."

For many kids, it is the ear-worm of a title song that became the anthem for girls around the world. "Let It Go was the hook that was often the first point of entry into the Frozen universe for kids who were too young to watch the film," explains Bibek Basu, creative director at an animation studio in Mumbai. Ahmedabad-based parents Malav Parekh and Kathika Kandpal agree. Their five-year-old daughter Adrija, discovered the soundtrack before she watched the film. And the songs became her constant companion. "We realised how quickly she had latched on to the music when we watched her hum the songs to herself during playtime or bath time or whenever she was on her own," says Parekh. Adrija has watched the film several times with her parents and her favourite song is, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" The lyrics, say her parents, are easy to remember, and the melody is hummable.

For kids as young as Adrija, the gender politics of Frozen may not matter. "It may work for parents, who have experienced it with the other Disney princess stories, but for young kids, it is just a fantastic magical story about a young hero with a super power," says Parekh.

Which is perhaps right, because nowhere in the first film do the characters talk about their gender, neither is it an issue even are the men in their lives as reduced to arm candies. The Frozen brand of feminism is never in your face. But always there for the discovering.

Sayoni Basu, publisher of Duckbill, a young adults imprint, has not watched the series, but is aware of the rage that the character has been. In her analysis, Elsa's popularity could be because "children usually feel powerless in an adult world". And here, you have two young people in control, finding solutions to the small and big problems of their lives. "The resolution may not be perfect, but it is still something they can call their own. And that is important," she says, talking about the importance of giving children the agency to take decisions. "Also the story at a conceptual level, is something new. Fresh and contemporary. And children love that."

But Frozen is not always the serious bits. It is also a glorious celebration of everything that is magical, larger than life and snow. Nikita Mehta, whose company The Drama Queen, has been creating Frozen-themed parties, says how girls in the age group of four to six are smitten by Elsa's luscious hair, the dazzling blue costume and her strong personality. To keep up the unabated demand, she has had to introduce mood boards and innovations, replete with foreign performers dressed as the characters, games such as pin the carrot on the snow-man Olaf, snow games and more. Kids, she says, don't always care for the moral of the story. Frozen is a visually spectacular musical, with a stupendous supporting cast of men who are jerks and creatures who are witty, she points out. Perfect for a party.

Though Elsa is a huge icon for young girls, the film has its following among young boys too. Grace and Mark D'Souza were thrilled to have been chosen for a special screening of the film in Mumbai last week. While Grace, 12, was happy to have revisited Elsa in a film "that's even better than the first," she says, Mark, was taken in by the other characters and the visual effects. "The fact that everything about Frozen is blue and not pink, makes it easier for boys to identify with the film. Besides characters such as Olaf, the adorable snow-man, also helps," says Yogini.

What may have also helped keep the appeal of the Frozen mythology alive is the staggering range of merchandise that the franchise has lent itself to. Yana owns every possible Frozen merchandise ever made. Though her younger brothers are into Avengers, they share her passion for the pop culture sensation in a sparkly blue dress and shades of grey. Disney India has a list of 67 brand tie-ups on record for Frozen II, but we all know the legend of Frozen lives on in the little things that are way beyond the official ambit. From birthday cakes and stationery to linen and hair accessories, dresses and shoes to jewellery, it is a franchise that keeps giving. Duggal explains, "When you establish a strong emotional connect with a story or a character, you want to make it a part of your everyday life." Which could explain why the biggest consumers driving Disney's latest empire are girls aged five to 16.

If the box office collections worldwide do topple action stars, you could thank two feisty young girls who keep doing "the next right thing" in the more complex, dark and definitely more grown up version of the popular franchise.


At the Frozen II promotion in Juhu last week, Sunny Leone's daughter Nisha Kaur Weber ran up on stage to give a bear hug to actors dressed as Elsa and Anna. The video of the moment went viral


Grace and Mark D'Souza were chosen for a special screening of the film in Mumbai last week


Tiana Dutta from Kolkata gets a Frozen-themed cake for her birthday


Bhandup resident Yogini Arora is a mind coach, and mother to nine-year-old Yana who requested that her November 17 birthday be celebrated on November 22 to coincide with the release of Frozen II. So enamoured was she with the story, all she wanted was a sibling to recreate some of the magic she witnessed on screen between the world’s most famous sisters, says Yogini. Pic/ Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; May 21, 2018)

In a career spanning over four-and-a-half decades, Danny Denzongpa has essayed a variety of roles. The 70-year-old, who has declined offers for want of novelty in characters and films, now spends most of his time at his farmhouse in his home state Sikkim, where he has a successful brewery business. When he’s not acting in movies, the Padma Shri recipient paints, carves, treks, till an interesting role and project beckons him to Mumbai. With his next, Bioscopewala releasing on May 25, we catch up with the actor. Excerpts...

In the recent past, you have been a part of movies like Jai Ho and Bang Bang (2014), Baby (2015) as well as Naam Shabana (2017). But it has been long since you have had a full-fledged role in a film…
Maybe you feel that because you’re used to seeing me in powerful roles. But in Baby, I had maximum scenes, and we shot according to the script. Having said that, there has been a gap, but during that time I was shooting for Bioscopewala and then I took up Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. The latter is mounted on a huge scale and took time to make. I still have to do some patchwork on it. That’s my other release this year.

Do you attribute your missing-in-action to lack of good scripts, interesting characters and films?
Many offers that came to me were conventional roles, which I had played before. Most new directors have that image of me from the movies, which I did in the ’80s and ’90s. That was too monotonous and I wanted to do something different. So, I chose these two movies.

What made you take up Bioscopewala?
It’s based on Rabindranath Tagore’s story Kabuliwala. When I was a kid, I had seen Bimal Roy’s Kabuliwala, in which Balraj Sahni played the protagonist. It’s a nice emotional story, which revolves around the relationship between the protagonist and the little girl. That film really moved me. In the ’70s, I wanted to do a film on Kabuliwala and requested Bimal Roy if he could part with the rights. But that time, it didn’t materialise. So, when this offer came to me, I was excited as I wanted to do this role.

It’s been 47 years since you started as an actor with Mere Apne (1971). How do you look back at the journey?
It has been a pleasant journey. When I came into the industry, I was like an alien as I looked different (laughs). Filmmakers would make movies on subjects in which I didn’t fit in. Somehow I got a chance to act in Gulzar saab’s Mere Apne. Then B R Ishara chose me for Zaroorat (1972). Finally, B R Chopra cast me in Dhund (1973), which made me a star. People have been kind after that. Then filmmakers started making lost-and-found stories. Manmohan Desai made many of them, which became huge hits. I couldn’t fit in them as I couldn’t look like anyone’s son or brother. So, I didn’t accept many of those offers. Then, N N Sippy offered me Fakira (1976) and interestingly, I was supposed to play Shashi Kapoor’s brother. It became a golden jubilee hit. That’s when I realised that once the public accepts you, they will accept you in any part. Thereafter, I played everyone’s brother or father (smiles).

In hindsight, do you think you got your due as an actor?
I have been blessed to be successful. However, sometimes I feel I didn’t get the kind of roles I wanted to play. I did Frozen (2007), which was a nice subject and a different take on cinema. It won two National Awards, bagged honours and won acclaim at several international film festivals, but it didn’t do well commercially. I was still waiting for interesting parts. Bioscopewala is one of those films that has a simple, yet different story and is made very well. Director Deb Medhekar and his crew have worked hard. The response to the trailer is good and I hope people like the movie, too.

Having started in 1971, you wanted to quit acting around 1980. Then again sometime in 2003, you wanted to take a break. Why did you want to quit and what made you change your mind?
When the roles got monotonous, I took a break. In fact, I wanted to quit and attempt something different. I went through that phase several times. In the ’70s, I was doing many films and suddenly I got so fed up with the routine work that I stopped signing movies. I directed a horror flick, Phir Wohi Raat (1980) with Rajesh Khanna. Then I took a break for two years as I was fed up. I went trekking, started painting, carving... I do all these things as they give me immense pleasure. Cinema is an expensive art form whereas painting requires just some paint and a brush. If you don’t like it, you can trash it and restart. So, it doesn’t cost much. I follow my heart. Fortunately, people accepted me when I resumed working in movies.

Phir Wohi Raat is still considered as one of the best Hindi horror films. Why didn’t you direct again?
I had some scripts when I got more acting offers from major filmmakers. While shooting those movies, I discussed the subjects that I wanted to explore with those producers. But they felt the stories were either like Hollywood movies or not too commercial. Since I got good acting offers, I took them up and didn’t pursue direction the way most people do. Someday, if I feel like, I might make a different movie.

You played some of the most memorable antagonists on screen... With heroes playing negative roles, do you think it’s the end of villains in Bollywood?
I think so. I remember, many years ago, before I joined films, Dharamji played a character with grey shades in Aayee Milan Ki Bela (1964), which starred Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu. He was even nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Those days, heroes never did negative roles. In the ’70s and ’80s, villains became the most important characters after heroes. In the stories, their roles were written larger-than-life. They had wonderful dialogues, they were loud and seemed gimmicky, but it made a lot of impact on the audience. There was Pran saab, Prem Chopra, then I came in, then Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan, Ranjeet, Gulshan Grover, Shakti Kapoor, everyone had their own parts. But when heroes started playing grey characters, the parts for villains gradually diminished. Now, if it’s written in a believable way, we can still do it.

Most star kids follow their parents’ footsteps into Bollywood. Is your son, Rinzing, too gearing up for his debut?
Rinzing has been training himself. He’s even getting offers, but he will have to decide for himself what is right for him. For a newcomer, picking a wrong movie at the beginning of his career can prove to have an adverse effect for a couple of years. He’s a grown-up boy who can look after himself. What’s the use if I have to make a film for him or call friends to cast him? He should achieve his goal on his own merit.

FROZEN carries a dejavu of TANGLED, but in the end manages to carve its own identity. This is more of a musical and few of the songs (especially Let It Go and For The First Time In Forever) keeps on lingering in one’s mind for a long time! Brilliant storyline that keeps one engaged and a terrific climax that makes for a superb as well as an emotional watch! The humour is neatly incorporated in the film and Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer provided tons of laughs. On the whole, it is a great family entertainer, in true Disney style. It has re-released this week in India. Go for it, if time permits!

My rating-**** out of 5!