A still image from ‘Ghoomer’
R Balki’s latest human resilience film impresses with its beautiful portrayal of people with disabilities and their will to rise up in the face of adversity. To further his point, the screenwriter-director has chosen the right game of glorious uncertainties that has seen champions like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and BS Chandrashekhar.
Anini (Saiyami Kher) is a perfect hitter who is preparing to make her debut for the Indian team when she has a horrible accident that causes her to have her right arm amputated. How she returns to the pitch as a spinner with the help of an alcoholic coach (Abhishek Bachchan) in search of redemption is the crux of the story.
That’s the main premise of the sports movie that requires a little more than a suspension of skepticism, but the treatment makes it relatable and engaging. The consumption of crickets is so great that showing it on the big screen often feels staged and contrived, but there’s hardly any gap here. Balki knows the intricacies of cricket well and it reflects in the presentation of the game as well as the debates surrounding it. For instance, the movie is about how the rules are aligned in favor of the hitter or how you have to earn a bit of magic to be a pitcher worthy of a racket. The role science and art play in creating this magic make Anini’s alter ego all the more captivating; The same goes for fate and belief when things go awry.
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Directed by: R Balki
Actors: Saiyami Kher, Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Sivendra Singh Dungarpur, Angad Bedi
Plot: A paraplegic athlete revives a cricket career under the guidance of her alcoholic coach.
Saiyami may have to work a bit more on her acting game in scenes outside the stadium, but as a cricketer, she totally has her body language and emotions. a sports athlete. Style, growl and sensibility all appear seamlessly. Her swing is believable, her graceful bowling moves can create a real world shock, and her celebratory style after snatching a racket is well worth it. Copy.
The lifeblood of the film, however, is Abhishek Bachchan, who has rediscovered form and delivered one of the most moving performances of his career as Paddy, a wonder a test has taken. was left out in domestic cricket after an injury on the field. As a person whose status is being consumed by alcohol, Paddy is a strange combination of bitterness, hope, insolence and restraint. When Paddy said he knew what it felt like to be a loser and now he wanted the experience of a winner, emotions rushed in.
The story is dotted with some interesting characters who represent progressive views without being didactic. Shabana Azmi as Anini’s athletic grandmother, and Sivendra Singh Dungarpur as the dreaded doting father are welcome departures from the Hindi film stereotype where fathers are often said to carry gear. mothers and grandmothers appeared together pooja ki thali. Here, to change, Dadi I’m a Roger Federer fan and don’t like to show my emotions.
As for carrying the kit, we have Angad Bedi as the boyfriend who doesn’t mind playing a second game against a prodigy. Then there’s Ivanka Das, a transgender character who adds an extra layer to Paddy’s life. Their bond is one of the highlights of the film. So does Amitabh Bachchan’s entry as the cheerful commentator who names Anini’s unique act after the Rajasthani folk dance. A little bit taller, his part provides the energy that cricket symbolizes for the country.
Having said that, Balki’s narratives are often stymied by self-perception. Each scene is like a 30-second commercial that must entertain and deliver a message. He puts all his research on the topic in dialogues and makes sure he underlines it. A movie is more like an Experimental match, where the effect doesn’t need to be shown, it has to be felt. But here, there are parts where you feel like you’re being reminded by the director that you’re watching a thought-provoking movie, where the characters are all progressive and everyone has a way of speaking.
In fact, it seems like the same characters are moving in different movies. Grandma here sounds like an extension of Zohra Segal from Cheeni Kum and Neena Gupta in the Balki . segment Lust 2 Story. It’s just that the settings are different. Similarly, at one point, Anini started talking like the mature version of Sexy’s Cheeni Kum. This is Balki’s style — sometimes, it goes a little too far — but here it impedes the flow of ghost much less than some of his earlier works.
Ghoomer is currently showing in theaters
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