This is not a review by the way, just a fan's testimony of witnessing 2 hours and 30 minutes of pure joy after having to wait for two years to watch it on the big screen. Testimony of someone who was a little too young to exactly remember the tournament but someone who became a true 'blue' fan after that.
Wait.. What about what people are saying....The acting, the casting, the dramatization, the sentiments, the war zone... Well, we sent Lagaan, a creation that never would have happened but for the momentous victory in '83, to the Oscars and then prayed as a nation even as it got nominated for the coveted prize. So no room for logic there too.
And what is wrong with playing to the masses, a bit of drama when that is exactly what we witness during real India cricket matches, don't we?
For those of us who were mere toddlers or school goers during the event and can barely remember the matches, this is our go to documentation. The reaction in the theatre to the recreation of the Tunbridge wells match sums it up all. People (yours truly included) waved flags and whistled and hooted. C'mon..we do that in every Marvel film that gets released here. And now we do have a film on a veritable 'marvel'. We won the world cup
And the casting-Kapil does a brilliant job. The accent, the voice, the stance, the natraj shot...Oops did I say Kapil.. Well he is there too. So are Srikanth, Jimmy Amarnath and Jimmy Amarnath, Sunny Gavaskar, Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil and the rest of the wonderful team... And some tamil maamis who serve dosa.. Hope you get the drift. Eeks..did I let out a spoiler.. No we won the world cup. That's all!
To me this was like a dream come true. You see, I am the type who stops watching a film like Devar Magan once the character played by Sivaji Ganesan dies.. Naturally, I stopped following serious cricket more than a decade back. So it was like back in the stands, cheering till the throat went sore or until the players walked out. Here until the credits rolled down completely.. I am after all an MCU fan.
Will I watch it again.. Dude.. Will you not watch the Tunbridge Wells match if someone miraculously produced a secret copy of it secretly shot by an undercover BBC cameraman? So, do I have a choice??!!
And to all those who say the film was too filmy, was too dramatic, did not have any layers to understand the story, was too blunt..etc. I just have to paraphrase Jiiva's Cheeka,
"Arey kya pagal hai yaar log" !
And do I want this film to be sent to the Oscars?
Of course not. Did I mention? We won the world Cup!!
PS: I wrote about 80 percent of the above before even stepping into the cinema hall to watch the film. Just by watching the trailer and reading about the making of the film. Why? I knew the movie would deliver. I knew the audience would be a frenzy. I knew I would like it no matter what.. And boy was I right on all counts!
