Settling old scores on the field
GOLD. Directed by Reema Kagti. With Akshay Kumar, Kunal Kapoor, Mouni Roy,Amit Sadh,Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal. At Nu Metro, Canal Walk. interested in playing.
He sets about finding new talent and, together with some of the original team members, start training for the games. The challenges pile up but eventually they make it to the games and into the final against their old foe, the British team.
Director Reema Kagti’s screenplay features too many sub-plots that take away from the overall enjoyment of the film.
She opts for contrivance and convenience which hinder the plot and characterisation.
The emotional quotient is high and, while manipulative, it hits home and audiences will rally behind the team.
The scenes showing how the formation of India and Pakistan, during Partition, affects citizens and divides Muslim and Hindu, impacting on the team, is harrowing and sad. Kumar is a talented actor who almost always delivers a good performance.
Here, playing a resident of Calcutta, he loses his Bengali accent often which takes away from the credibility of his performance, especially since Mouni Roy, playing his wife, is pitch perfect. So too are all the supporting cast. Standout roles, among them those by Amit Sadh as a player descendant from royalty and Sunny Kaushal who is the contrast from the other side of the tracks.
Their rivalry for the same position in the team forms an important aspect of the plot. But it’s this aspect that is the downfall of all on which the story rests. This should have been conveyed in a different, more credible manner. As it stands, it’s weak.
The handsome period production design by Paul Rowan and Shailaja Sharma is wonderfully apt for the time. Celebrated international cinematographer Alvaro Gutierrez stunningly captures the action on and off the hockey field. Anand Subaya’s editing should have been more judicious as the film is far too long at two-and-ahalf hours.
The songs, while melodious, add nothing to the story and could easily have been shortened or left out. The fervour of various communities, rich and poor, is wonderfully captured as they listen to the commentary of the games on radio and spur their team on.
This story of an important time in India’s sporting history deserved better treatment. But despite the flaws, the film is enjoyable.