Resurgence of technically sensible movies

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2016)

An endearing tale of having and dream and the endeavor to achieve it. I must admit that after 'Madras Cafe', this is a movie which has rekindled my hopes that Bollywood can create technically sensible movies. The handling deserves an applause. The movie doesn't give much chance to the viewer to get distracted. One fact that I hate about any Indian work ranging from films to series is the incessant, loud and maddening background score and this is avoided in the movie. Nitesh Tiwari has done a fantastic job while seated in the writer's and the director's chair. The command of all the actors over the dialect is impressive.
Emotions, philosophy and practical scenarios are blended well. Mahavir's realization that his daughters have inherited his talent reminded me of that scene in 'Kung Fu Panda' where the Master Shifu, otherwise disappointed, sees a spark in Po. 'Nothing succeeds like success' - the villagers first condemn, then make fun of the family and finally praise and celebrate Geeta's success. One can even see girls being sent to train with Mahavir. The movie does have some emotional spots - the girls getting accustomed to their father's orders about getting ready at 0500 hours, they realizing that their seemingly insensitive father is, in reality, struggling for their better future, Babita criticizing Geeta and reminding her that their success is solely due to their father's sacrifice and skills and that he is growing old, the mild friction between the sisters over performance and Geeta calling up her father, Mahavir summarizing Geeta's journey and begging the NIS committee for another chance for her, Geeta quoting "Bahut dinon ke baad papa ki gaaliyan khaayi, accha laga !", after more than a decade of a fortitudinous journey, Mahavir denied the chance to witness the most important match of his daughter's career Mahavir finally appreciating Geeta after the gold medal.
What I always crave for is having technical/professional(whether it's a sport, an armed conflict, secret services and so on) aspects given the maximum footage in the movie. The training of the girls, the points system, the strategies used and the games shown are perfect pointers for a layman like me to make out the 'head or tail' of the wrestling. The movie shows how vocational skills and what is popularly known 'jugaad' in India are quintessential for survival. Daya's stitching, Mahavir's ideas ranging from building the wrestling ground in his own field, using cotton mats as a low-cost substitute for synthetic mats, using the video parlor to analyse Geeta's previous games are all simple but successful ideas to navigate through predicaments. Mahavir, instead of celebrating Geeta's silver medal, stays back to watch the games of the other semi-final pair to evaluate the opposition in the final.
The movie deserves 10/10 for it's genuine humor sprinkled all over the movie - the girls pursuing her mother to get them relieved from the training, Mahavir's stone-cold attitude to the tantrums hurled by his daughters, Omkar's sufferings and the comments from the crowd generate giggles.
The characters in the movie seem balanced and well-placed. Geeta and Babita - Both the kids and the adults have played their parts well, successfully delivering what is expected from the characters. Omkar - the mascot and the 'comic relief'. Right from his inception in wrestling till the end of the movie, . His narration across the movie . He's the one that has the lion's in the humor. His expressions when his jeans are shortened to make slacks for his sisters, the torture he faces while his sisters learn wrestling and his unfaltering support(jack of all trades) to Mahavir all make him a lovable character. Mahavir Singh - Amir Khan has impeccably played a father and a teacher. Letting his girls have 'Gol gappe' for the last time, putting them on a non-veg diet despite of his wife's protests, giving up his job and disregarding his health and enduring hardships just for the success of his daughters are all. Once again, after 'Ghazani', he has put the efforts to modify his physique to suit the demands of the screenplay.
Success of a person comes from the selfless support of many people who act like background processes. From Daya to the local chicken shop owner, all touch the viewer's heart.
I felt that the music and lyrics have been an odd couple in the movie. Honestly, I was not impressed by the music, Pritam isn't the best choice for such movies. Having said that, the title track is notable. Amitabh Bhattacharya has made a mark in penning apt lyrics, the one I liked most were of the song 'Haanikarak Bapu'.
Similar to the two sides of a coin, the movie has several shortcomings that are both facts and the desire of the viewer to expect more from something that is good or better than earlier attempts. After the intermission, I could feel the emotional drama stepping in increasingly e.g: The discussion between Mahavir and Geeta on the night before the final match(reminds of 'Chak De' final match!). While it's normal in an Indian movie, this consumes valuable time in the length of the film which can be dedicated for more technical aspects of wrestling. The sudden leap of the film from Geeta's adolescence to becoming the national champion was a bit disappointing for me - a journey of being a school girl in a hamlet to being a national champion would have involved aplenty of professional challenges like facing injuries etc. The number of songs should have been less.
The movie, undoubtedly, is one of the Bollywood's fine works and a must-watch(more than once!). I just hope that instead of having one such movie per decade, we have such movies frequently, focusing on diverse sports. I look forward to the movies that take a cue from 'Dangal' and improvise on the technical aspects.