Plot Summary – On the 25th of June 1983, the Lord’s Cricket Ground witnessed one of the biggest underdog stories in the history of sports. Fourteen inspired players – led by a man’s self-belief and conviction – fought against all odds and orchestrated India’s greatest sporting triumph by beating the two-time World Champions West Indies.

Language – Hindi

★★★★½ 

Watched on 31 Dec 2021

This is a year where I’ve had to grapple a lot with what it means to be Indian. How fitting that the last film I watched this year is one so deeply rooted in the concept of India and unity. Unlike most countries, India isn’t united by one language, one race, one religion, one identity or anything, the British told us that this assortment of separate kingdoms was India and we accepted it. Moments like these and films like these remind us of what a feat India is as a sheer concept. The fact that we can unite for some things despite our multitude of differences is something that’s extremely beautiful. Sports and cinema tend to have that effect, where everyone unites in one place to enjoy something. A film about such an event at a time like this with so much uncertainty in the world being as good as it is is an achievement unto itself. Watching it with my dad who has a certain nostalgia for this period and this World Cup was an amazing experience as our roles reversed. Usually, it would be me leaning over to him explaining how Spider-Man showed up in this Captain America movie but this time he was the one with the tidbits and the anecdotes and it was genuinely such a fun experience. The film is so effective in making you feel pure joy. The score is so effective and the soundtrack can control your emotions like a remote. Of course, there is the Bollywood melodrama and it does drag at times but those flaws are minuscule compared to what this film achieves. The attention to detail is insane, they’ve recreated these moments and scenes with such precision and it manages to keep the cricket so interesting. Cricket isn’t like other sports where there’s an obvious winner at any point so translating it to film itself is a hard task but this film does it spectacularly. Every actor acts their heart out, Ranveer Singh is unrecognizable and completely envelopes his role but the stand out for me was Jiiva who plays Krish Shrikanth, maybe it’s because that’s my dad’s name too but he gave such a touching and convincing performance that I was so excited anytime he came on screen. Also, the dosa thing got to me man, the film won my heart with that bit and I was smiling for the rest of the runtime. The humour also is very well handled and makes sure not to undercut the tension while also providing relief in some heavy moments. The production design and sound design were splendid as they managed to recreate the time. The cinematography was also extremely effective in conveying the scale and the magnitude of some of the events. I loved the interspersing of real footage as well, it made my mom very emotional. Maybe if I had not watched the film in the circumstances I did, I would not have enjoyed it as much but I definitely think that this film was the joyride that we need this year. Definitely check it out in theatres if you have the chance!