In India, even something that is remotely related to the game of cricket has the potential to stoke some frenzy, thanks to the cricket crazy public who literally worship cricketers as their demi-gods. Films and media at large have always played a good part in stoking this frenzy in order to garner ample mileage. The film ‘Lagaan’, which got released more than a decade back was India’s official entry into the oscars, carried the cricket frenzy with itself throughout. Afterall the soul of the movie was good-over-evil, but cricket was a great choice to aide the cause in this case and it worked wonders at the box office too. Besides all these hype and hoopla about the game, there lies beneath a rather shady and quite disgusting politics that often gets overlooked by the public. Even though the game has evolved from leaps and bounds over the years, the politics in cricket (read it as Tamil Nadu cricket association) exists even today and a single ‘community’ believes in thrusting their stranglehold in player selection for the Ranji as depicted in this film.
Jeeva (Vishnu Vishal), a natural cricketing talent, rises up his ranks from being a street cricketer to an ace, playing for his club. When he gets selected for Ranji, ‘caste’ politics in cricket plays spoil sport, thus victimizing him and his friend. Also the story depicts the adverse effects that cricket or rather ‘cricket politics’ has on his personal life, be it losing his friend or love interest. Nevertheless the film ends on a positive note, reiterating the fact that one would be rewarded for sheer focus, perseverance and hard work.
Though the movie tried to portray a realistic picture of the petty politics in cricket, the parallel love story came across rather nonchalantly and was simply no match to Suseenthiran’s portrayal of love in his previous movies like ‘Aadhalaal Kaadhal Seiveer’. There was not a single strong link to vouch for the lead pair to get united at the end. But another story that got unfolded simultaneously which was Vishnu’s ‘guardian family’ with actor Charlie playing a lovely supporting cast was something refreshing. Soori's brief but sharp comic lines were some sort of a stress buster. Also at the end, the much criticized IPL, that is marred by controversies is shown to bail out the protagonist, which by itself was a sweet paradox!
The weakest links in the movie were the pathetically dished out and naively choreographed songs and the predictability in the screenplay. However the movie can be watched for the sheer audacity of the director to depict a sensitive but disgusting issue that has over the years have grown to an extent such that it is classified as a norm. But otherwise, considering the director’s previous attempts, this one would rank much below in terms of narrative engagement.
Verdict: Watchable, but not a must watch!
Rating: 2 / 5
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