Hope Floats :). Review on Iqbal

Flawless. This is the one word i'd use for this movie.Nagesh Kukunoor does it again after movies like Rockford,Hyderabad Blues and Teen Deewarien.

The story is simple. A boy - Iqbal (played by Shreyas Talpade) does not give into the complexities of being deaf and dumb. He has learned to communicate and that keeps him cheerful. He is unharnessed, untrained but an extremely talented fast bowler. He practices barefoot in the village grounds.

His sister(played by Shweta Prasad) helps him in entering a training school. but he is soon expelled from there, primarily because of his own bad luck and political pressure.

The dreams of getting the Blue Uniform are shattered...

In this same agony he discovers that the village drunkard - an unfit, filthy Mohit character (played by Naasseruddin Shah) was an erstwhile fast bowler.

The story that ensues is a heart-rendering mixture of passion, dreams and the courage to follow them. It would be unfair if I narrate the rest of it here for that would rob the thrill that comes along with it.

The action of Iqbals training.. and the suspense of the secret his family keeps from his dad, is depicted with such dexterity, that almost all of us can relate to it.

The song Aashayien by Salim sulieman sets the mood for excitment and the ongoing persistent action.

The audience sits with bated breath in each ball the boy throws.. with each selection result.

There's a very lucid and admirable take on the money-power tricks being played in the highest corridors of Indian cricket. Apart from Mohit's history and transition finding an explanation there, it is also potrayed how worthy talent always finds a way.

A brief dialogue by our Paa'ji - Kapil Dev is so cute that it leaves the viewers grinning from ear to ear. Also, the point that he mentions, of Iqbal naming his buffalos after indian bowlers is an indicator of the passion for cricket depicted.. in an undoubtedly cricket-crazy nation.

All in all, it's a MUST-WATCH movie

for all of us face similar problems and situations in our day to day life.. and yes, very similar comical paradoxes happen continually.

Lastly, for all those who think cricket is just a game, Nasserudin Shah, while begging Iqbal's father to let him play says that It takes a lot of hard work to be a cricketer..

and seriously, it shows in the movie.

To sum up, its a movie that encourages u to chase ur dreams.. and provides inpiration to those ppl who are socialy and/or physically disadvantaged.

Iqbal rose only on the basis of his arms and feet. he eliminated the basic need of speech and hearing. But did not give up the intricacy of understanding.

Hope floats! Always!