Good movie.
I was born in 84, didn’t watch the event live. But as an Indian I have watched the highlights excitedly so many times, however missing out on the story behind the scenes.
Thank you Kabir Khan to help understand that feeling of victory, victory when no one believed, victory when nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter how poor we were, how divided we were or how less the world thought of us, because they didn’t know what was there in our heart, or at the very very very least, one heart.
We had an awful record, one win across two world cups, that too against a team that wasn’t a nation but more of a bunch of Patel’s and Shah’s in some east part of Africa, but we had the experience, the skills that mattered in England and once in a millennium, we seemed to pick the right team at the right location and an absolutely correct choice of the captain.
An event that engaged civilians, military personnel, politicians and nay-sayers alike.
Kapil - as he said “What else we here for? We here to win”. Broken English, but, absolutely clear thought. Righteous inspiration from Mom - play to win.
P R Man Singh and Pankaj Tripathi - standing by the man that believed when most run away because that is much easier. Simply great acting as usual by Pankaj Tripathi.
Yashpal Sharma - highest score in World Cup for India when he scored against the mighty West Indies to inflict their first loss in any World Cup , performing without fear at the biggest stage, brave batting, a lion personified.
Mohinder Amarnath - great focus, understanding the magnitude of the situation, knowing when a talent like Srikanth needs to be let loose, consistent performance with the bat and the ball and the cricketing acumen that makes an all-rounder tick.
Gavaskar - inspiring the team and Captain, despite a poor personal performance. Not wearing a helmet and relying on his instincts and skills. Toughest role in the movie, kudos to the actor Tahir to keeping it below unnecessary glorifying.
Sandhu, Srikanth , Patil - tad crazy yet priceless contributions. Flamboyance of Patil, rashness if Srikanth and simple mindedness of Sandhu.
Srikanth in the movie, summed it up the best, a mad Captain believed and hence the team eventually performed.
Kirti Azad , Shastri, Kirmani, Madan Lal - keeping the team going with performances whenever they mattered the most.
Some of the scenes featuring Shastri really bring out the proper “Mumbaiya” nature of his persevering talent and wit.
Binny - achieved zenith of personal excellence fuelled by a determined, an almost delusional captain.
Vengsarkar - excellence and determination - cut short by excellence (read Malcolm Marshall).
Kudos to Kabir Khan to cast Jimmy Amarnath as his father, a character that epitomized the longing of Indian cricket lover for the team to excel. Only blemish could have been the casting of Patil and Vengsarkar, actors who didn’t show any merits for selection but nonetheless the director got the right stuff out of them.
Farookh Engineer played by Boman Irani, his yearning for the Indian team to dish it out to earn the much deserved respect from a prejudiced English pundits and audience.
Kapil Dev - a miracle himself and performing a miracle, be it the 175, or beating the West Indies twice, to catching the King incredulously, to leading a team from an extremely low-confidence nation, uniting them through sheer determination, almost delusional beliefs, to making it count when it mattered the most (the 175*), understanding the difference between being an excellent potential to performing excellently, an epitome of Indian simplicity, self-belief, determination!! “Loss or win should be evident in the scoreboard not in your eyes” or don’t give up till the end!
Kabir khan - thank you for making a movie about a sports achievement, about the 83’ World Cup and keeping it strictly within the lines (except a few). Thank you for highlighting some of the nuances of that win - right players for the right conditions, basic principles of cricket, impact of the conditions (Gomes and Richards can be effective bowlers on some day, Binny on some, Roberts and Marshall on other), you always have to take a chance and the value of all-rounders. Capturing the impossibility of containing a storm that was Viv Richards, the king! And the self belief and astute understanding of the game - “You have scored 183 but they still have too, so you have the upper hand!”. Only blemish possibly not showing Kapil shying away from the crowd after that “once in a lifetime catch”.
Best scene has to be Bob Willis setting an off-side only field with India needing just one scoring shot to win, to get his players to safety from an impending Pitch invasion by Indian fans. However it does pale compared to Kapil catching the King.
And the actors to truly surrendering to the characters they played (did they really have any option?)
Parcham lehraa do!!!
P.S : unity might be over-rated but it’s invaluable; inspiration might seem frivolous but it matters; a story might be known but needs to be re-lived, re-told.
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