Kings of Mulberry Street – Kings of Mulberry Street (2019)

Directed by: Judy Naidoo | 90 minutes | comedy, family | Actors: Aaqil Hoosen, Shaan Nathoo, Amith Sing, Neville Pillay, Keshan Chetty, Chris Forrest, Rizelle Januk, Thiru Naidoo, Kogie Naidoo, Kimberly Arthur, Hamish Kyd

Judy Naidoo grew up in the 1980s in the town of Verulam, north of Durban. Durban is a city built by contract workers who came to South Africa from India to work and then stayed there. Naidoo uses her childhood in the Verulam of the eighties – under the fictitious name Sugarhill District – as the setting for her youth film ‘Kingen van Mulberrystraat’ (‘Kings of Mullberry Street’) (2019), her second feature film after the thriller ‘Hatchet Hour ‘ from 2016. A film that she not only directed, but also wrote and produced. Naidoo was inspired to draw on her own experiences by a teacher who encouraged her to tell her own stories during a film course in New York. “He emphasized the importance of coming up with stories that are close to me. On the long flight back home, the story of “Kings of Mullberry Street” began to bubble up and take shape. I came up with the characters Ticky and Baboo, which are largely inspired by the strange and crazy kids I remembered from my childhood. And since I also have some strange traits myself, I can identify with them very well!”

‘Kings of Mulberry Street’ follows two young, completely different Indian boys who decide to team up to deal with a nasty local criminal. Ticky Chetty (Aaqil Hoosen) is a worldly wise rascal, an energetic jumper who loves Bollywood movies and imitates his heroes with great passion and pleasure. Ticky is of humble origin and lives with his parents (Thiru Naidoo and Rizelle Januk), sisters and grandmother (Kogie Naidoo). His new neighbor, Harold ‘Badoo’ Singh (Shaan Natoo), comes from a very different background. He moved to Sugarhill District from Johannesburg because his father Dev (Amith Sing) lost his job as a journalist. What happened to his mother is not entirely clear, but it is clear that the Singhs have had to take a big step back. While his father is at work all day, Badoo sits at home (until the school holidays are over). It doesn’t take long before Ticky makes contact with his new neighbor. Because despite their different backgrounds, the boys seem to find each other in their vivid imagination. They also both hate Raja (Neville Pillay), a criminal who controls the neighborhood. For example, he takes Badoo’s bike and lets Ticky’s father Reggie do annoying chores for a stark wage. When they discover that Raja wants to use Reggy as a drug courier, they come up with a plan to get rid of Raja once and for all.

Judy Naidoo made a colourful, cheerful film in which she pays tribute to her own childhood memories. In addition to her former hometown and its motley crew of residents, ‘Kingen van Mulberrystraat’ is also a poem in praise of the films from her youth and the accompanying film stars (Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi, among others). Subtlety is hard to find in this film: especially the adult characters are caricatured and over the top. Criminal Raja, for example, is an excited gold-toothed scolding who blackmails the residents of Sugarhill District and steals small children from their bicycles. His sidekick is a huge jackass named Size (Keshan Chetty). Reggie is a man without a spine, who lets himself be fobbed off with a few rotten cents and then can’t or won’t explain it to his wife. Although the children experience exciting adventures (although you may wonder whether drugs, weapons and aggression are not too intense for the young target group), they are not really sympathetic. Badoo is often grumpy and fuss-maker Ticky is downright annoying. Even in the cinema he still jumps up and down to imitate his heroes. ‘Koningen van Mulberrystraat’ looks great and is colorful and lively. On the other hand, the film is so noisy, busy and full (and therefore exhausting) that the running time of ninety minutes is more than sufficient.