The Most Important Movie on Indian Sports. Review on Paan Singh Tomar

Movie Review: Paan Singh Tomar 1/2 Rating

Theatre Release: 2 Mar 2012 Language: Hindi

Direction: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Label: UTV Motion Pictures

Genre: Biopic Drama

Viewers Group: U/A (recommended for 15+ only)

Somewhere in the sandy and hilly terrains of the Chambal where a normal human being never wished to visit even in the nightmare there lies a Man - an athlete – a sportsperson from soul- And a Dacoit now whose winning run for the great nation called India went unnoticed due to crippled ,undemocratic, corrupt political and administration system and forced him to taken his own route for justice- A path which make which more noticed and more popular amongst the country’s newspaper, radio and Parliament than winning his gold medals Indian National Games seven times in a row.

The Movie opens up with a journalist who wants to interview the most terrible dacoit of the region Paan Singh Tomar and as the interview moves the story went into flashback. Paan Singh Tomar (Irrfan Khan) works in Army but his dietary supplement requirements moved him to the sport division of the army because there is no limit on diet in sports. Thou luckily his race talent got noticed by his senior to whom he delivered the ice cream at his home in just four minutes Unmelt. Soon he become National Champion in “Indian National Games” and later in “International Military Games” in 1967.But gradually his personal life takes over his Professional life, and the incidents after him changed the course of his life which tuned him from an athlete to a dacoit

Paan Singh Tomar is a beautiful basket of extremely talents viz Tigmanshu Dhulia, the director of the movie whose earlier ventures like “Charas”, “Haasil” and “Saheb,Biwi aur gangster” gained him respectable place in the industry has become even more promising ,more adorable and worth praising with “Paan singh Tomar”. His vision is absolutely clear since beginning of the titles of the movie till the encounter of Paan Singh Tomar in the end imaging the Tokyo girl saying ‘I Love You’ and the stadium, the cheers and the medals (not the bullets) and showing his gratitude for the unsung heroes of Indian sports in the end who were died unnoticed in a great nation either penniless or ill. Tigmanshu and his team best part lies in being original. The crispier Dialogues, the location, the sets, the costumes , the makeup, the cinematography, background score was flawless with the aroma of simplicity and perfection with no unnecessary commercial or marketing tadka in it still maintaining the entertainment quotient of it.

Secondly, the talents house Himself - The Irrfan Khan. Yes THE Irrfan Khan. Till date due to marketing gimmicks ,few production camps and PR we knew three Khans who are visible with award trophies and hosting those events But add this fourth one to the list-He is genuine .He is original. He may not dance & sing around trees and under rain but he can move you on with his dialogue delivery and performances. He may not have six abs to show but he his steeplechase is enough to kick butts of silver spoons celebrities’ .The kind of physical and mental training an artist could have gone through to live up as an athlete, a husband, a father and a dacoit can easily be felt and noticed throughout the film. Despite the accent of the dialogues completely regional the actor makes you comfortable with it. Mahi Gill as Pan Singh Tomar’s wife gave her convincing performances despite non glamorous makeup and outfit

The movie touches some serious issues of the Indian sports and Indian sportspersons. In a scene where Pan Singh participated in ASIAN Games at Tokyo , the organizer gave him new spike shoes which become the cause of his defeat because the athlete never practiced with those shoes earlier and sponsors want to show that India can afford spike shoes shows the level of training in the country even applicable today .In a second scene where the coach requested Pan singh to withdrew his name from 5000 mts race else coach’s kin would have been lost that race shows again that the super sportsman you know may not be the best because the best was never given the chance. In a third scene where a villager was given bribe in terms of recruiting the villager’s son in the Indian army again shows that all in the Indian military may not have joined the army to serve the nation but to serve their selfish motives. Fourth and very important the scene where the Paan Singh Tomar went to police station to file a FIR against his relatives who has grabbed his land unlawfully and beaten up his son helpless and was insulted and rejected shows the system’s efficiency to tackle an issue which turns a common man into a rebel – A Dacoit

Paan Singh Tomar also helps to think deepens into the political arena and government arrangements for the promotion of SPORTS not cricket because cricket is so overhyped and overpaid that sponsors in the previous past has marketed it as a religion and few players as Demi- GODs that the other sports in India per say are lying on the stretcher waiting for the medicines of hope and support from the sponsors and government.

Paan Singh Tomar may not celebrate the spirit of win like ‘Chak de India’ or “Jo jeeta wohi sikandar” But it does celebrates the spirit the True Sportsmanship and it does it perfectly & flawlessly-Kuods

Thanks & Regards

Yours AVA

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