Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
Movie Reviews

'Gold': The Glitter Is Missing

Troy Ribeiro IANS, 15 Aug, 2018 01:53 PM
  • 'Gold': The Glitter Is Missing
Director: Reema Kagti
 
 
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Farhan Akhtar, Abdul Quadir Amin, Mouni Roy, Vinit Kumar Singh, Amit Sadh
 
 
Rating: * * 1/2
 
 
"Dreams should not die, and one should not lose hope," this is the underlying message of Gold, the film designed as a patriotic biopic. It is the story of how India won its first Olympic Gold medal for Hockey, post-Independence in the summer of 1948 in London.
 
 
Narrated in a linear manner, from the point-of-view of Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) -- the hockey team's manager -- the film begins in Berlin 1936 when India won its third Gold medal for British occupied India.
 
 
While the Indians won the finals, it is the British flag that unfurls and the British Occupied India Anthem that is played at the awards giving ceremony.
 
 
 
 
With the nation's freedom struggle in the backdrop and the pain of not hearing one's national anthem being played, it sows the seed to aspire for "Golda" for free India. How Tapan Das manages to put up a team and succeed in his endeavour, forms the crux of the tale.
 
 
This period drama, though well-captured, is over-fictionalised and peppered with internal politics, tension between players, a romance angle and unwarranted songs that makes the tale seem staid, run-of-the-mill, far-fetched and fictitious.
 
 
There are some beautiful game moments though, that spur you to cheer the Indian team. While the India-Pakistan relationship is beautifully handled, the playing of the national anthem at the end seems extremely forced. This makes the plot seem one-dimensionally patriotic.
 
 
With an inconsistent Bengali diction, Akshay Kumar is over-the-top as Tapan Das the down-and-out, eccentric team manager. Like his character, his performance too seems jaded.
 
 
 
 
Mouni Roy as his wife Monobina Das is perfunctory in her disposition. There are a few shallow, unconvincing but obligatory scenes between the couple which clearly show that together they lack on-screen chemistry.
 
 
The others in the supporting cast are Kunal Kapoor as Samrat, the team Captain of pre-Independence India, Amit Sadh as Raghubir Pratap Singh, the Vice-Captain of the post-Independence team, Vineet Kumar Singh as Imtiaz Shah, the original Captain of the Indian team who migrates to Pakistan, Sunny Kaushal as Himmat Singh as one of the key players of the team. They all add a distinct flavour to their characters.
 
 
The background score by Sachin-Jigar is inspiring and hits the right notes. The tune of the title song - "Hum saab ko harke layenge, ghar layenge gold, gold," seems like a variant of Lagaan and other patriotic films.
 
 
Mounted with ace production values, Alvaro Gultierrez's cinematography is picture perfect as it captures the era and the performances to perfection. His frames are seamlessly merged with the stock shots by Editor Anand Subaya.
 
 
Overall, with an overload of patriotic films in the recent past, "Gold" fails to offer anything exciting.

MORE Movie Reviews ARTICLES

'Poster Boys': Frothy Entertainer With Mass Appeal

Shreyas Talpade's "Poster Boys" is a screw-ball comedy about three men who find themselves socially ostracised after they feature in a poster promoting a public service campaign on suture-less-vasectomy.

'Poster Boys': Frothy Entertainer With Mass Appeal

'Daddy': Crisp Narrative With Good Production Values

'Daddy': Crisp Narrative With Good Production Values
Narrated in a non-linear manner, "Daddy" is a biopic of Arun Gawli, a mill worker's son who became a gangster and then metamorphosed into a politician.

'Daddy': Crisp Narrative With Good Production Values

'Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan': Get It Up With Ayushmann

This is a brave and bright film with its heart in the right place and its gaze refreshingly free of a gender bias fixed firmly at the crotch level.

'Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan': Get It Up With Ayushmann

Baadshaho: This Ajay Devgn And Emraan Hashmi Film Is Old Wine, In A Not Very New Bottle

Baadshaho: This Ajay Devgn And Emraan Hashmi Film Is Old Wine, In A Not Very New Bottle
If you are looking for a film that is unintentionally funny because it takes itself so seriously you would think the end-result would be a heist film on a par with Vijay Anand's "Jewel Thief" or at least Milan Luthria's "Kachche Dhaage", then look again.

Baadshaho: This Ajay Devgn And Emraan Hashmi Film Is Old Wine, In A Not Very New Bottle

'A Gentleman': More 'Risky' To Watch Than 'Sundar'

'A Gentleman': More 'Risky' To Watch Than 'Sundar'
Overall, swathed in mindless but slick action, this poorly told tale is purely risky to watch.

'A Gentleman': More 'Risky' To Watch Than 'Sundar'

''Babumoshai Bandookbaaz': Quirky and entertaining

''Babumoshai Bandookbaaz': Quirky and entertaining
The major asset of the film is that it succeeds in maintaining interest and suspense despite obvious foreknowledge of the outcome.

''Babumoshai Bandookbaaz': Quirky and entertaining