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A children’s story modelled after the American cult classic film The Godfather might seem impossible, considering the blood, gore, sex, and violence but film director and critic Raja Sen has done just that. ‘My First Matinee: The Best Baker In The World’ captures the essence of the crime thriller and Sicilian family drama, except through food and family.
The plot revolves around Don Cannoli, who is a famous baker and for whose cakes people wait for hours in long queues. Suddenly trouble arises and Don’s children must save the day, and uphold the family name at the big Cake-Off competition. Iconic scenes from the movie are reimagined in Sen’s whimsical manner, such as the one in which the Turk offers the Don a deal in narcotics turns into the Turk selling cheap candy which the Don refuses. Michael who in the film refuses to get into the family’s Mafia business is imagined as a bird who wishes to go to college instead of joining his family’s baking enterprise.
The choice of animals to represent such sharp characters is definitely interesting. Sen comments to Indian Express, “The presence of animals makes a tough plot palatable. I didn’t want to merely have caricatures of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando. I have adapted it and set it in a different world.” Sen also wanted the story to be detail oriented, visual and cinematic, and he found the perfect illustrator in Vishal K. Bharadwaj.
“There was a lot of back and forth between the two of us when it comes to the characters. We didn’t just want people with animal heads, but for more animal characteristics to show through. So, we enhanced some of the traits and humanised some of the others,” Bharadwaj tells The Deccan Chronicle about the creative process working with Sen. The duo are also planning to work on future series of children’s books together.
There are some elements that Sen chose to stray from the film, such as its male-centric story. His reworking of the film plot into the children’s book gave the female characters such as Connie and Kay much more agency. “These characters were sidelined by the original so I was very clear that I wanted to give them their voice, and it is amazing how much representation matters. Little girls in schools have told me that they liked Connie,” says Sen.
A story of “Friends, Feasts and Family”, Raja Sen’s homage Francis Ford Coppola’s well-loved film is sure to entertain adults and children alike.
You can purchase a copy of My First Matinee: The Best Baker In The World here.
Feature Image Courtesy: Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle.
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