honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
So I did watch it. Felt a lot like they were attempting to cater to rally around the flag thingy, esp. with the notion that the then PM Indira Gandhi wanted to use our WC semis as a way to defuse communal violence somewhere in India. But as someone who was not born then, I cant tell how much of it was infact true, given the type of colonial reminders we see and get even in present day UK.
What is nice to see was how improbable it all was for so many, even those involved in the first circle ecosystem of the game back then. And the interesting tid bits from that time, the discussion with a journalist who said he will eat a piece of paper if India wins the WC and then did it after a month or so, shown during the end credits were a lot of fun. Cheeka definitely seems like the type of guy every team needs to bring them together. Shaz, Sandeep Patil being the party animals and ladies men was fun to watch too. Sandhu almost losing his fiancee due to his lesser earnings also sheds light on just how difficult it was for these folks, esp. guys from middle class and lower backgrounds to make cricket a career even as recently as the 80s. This is where the contributions of folks like Srini Mama matters IMO, coz India Cements and the entire TNCA, for so long the only professional league in the country, taking care of so many players, not just national stars but even domestic stalwarts. Whatever success we see now owes a lot to these guys as well.
The acting performances were very good. The re-enactment was good but it was good even in MS Dhoni. The way they cut to iconic moments' real photographs and then cut back to the re-enactment was a very nice way to show us the real events from this perspective too. And thankfully they did not needlessly villainize anyone. Viv Richards getting his own theme throughout the movie was awesome too. In fact, he was the only one to consistently have a theme music every time he appeared.
What is nice to see was how improbable it all was for so many, even those involved in the first circle ecosystem of the game back then. And the interesting tid bits from that time, the discussion with a journalist who said he will eat a piece of paper if India wins the WC and then did it after a month or so, shown during the end credits were a lot of fun. Cheeka definitely seems like the type of guy every team needs to bring them together. Shaz, Sandeep Patil being the party animals and ladies men was fun to watch too. Sandhu almost losing his fiancee due to his lesser earnings also sheds light on just how difficult it was for these folks, esp. guys from middle class and lower backgrounds to make cricket a career even as recently as the 80s. This is where the contributions of folks like Srini Mama matters IMO, coz India Cements and the entire TNCA, for so long the only professional league in the country, taking care of so many players, not just national stars but even domestic stalwarts. Whatever success we see now owes a lot to these guys as well.
The acting performances were very good. The re-enactment was good but it was good even in MS Dhoni. The way they cut to iconic moments' real photographs and then cut back to the re-enactment was a very nice way to show us the real events from this perspective too. And thankfully they did not needlessly villainize anyone. Viv Richards getting his own theme throughout the movie was awesome too. In fact, he was the only one to consistently have a theme music every time he appeared.
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