Iqbal

Watched Nagesh Kukonoors latest movie Iqbal over the weekend. The beginning was great, the next one third was passable and the ending a bit too sensational.

Starting off with a movie celebrating Indias win in what looked to to be the 1985 world series match, at the end of which Iqbal is born, to the way he names all his buffaloes after the bowlers of the Indian team since he rightly feels that they are never given their due, the movies holds you in rapt attention. His own private 22 yards, the way he closes his eyes and can hear the applause of a crowd cheering him on, the longing glance when he sees the boys at the academy are excellently done. His sister also gives a great performance, introducing him to the academys coach, who later fires him since Iqbal gets provoked once and does what most pace bowlers do.

But the best performance comes from his next coach Naseeruddin Shah. He delivered a superlative performance in "Teen Deewarien", his dialogue where he says that its more enjoyable if one looks at life like a game of chess in response to Juhi Chawlas question about life not being a series of games was excellent. In this movie he plays a player who was not given his due in his playing days and is perenially drunk, till Iqbals sheer persistence makes him coach the raw Iqbal and turn him into more of a finished product. Again Kukonoors class is evident when the Ranji Trophy selections go on and the selector tells Shah "Sir, main aap ka fan tha"...

But of course the best one is "For all the people jo mera bhala chahte hain..I have one advice for them...GO TO HELL"

The ending though seems a bit unbelieveable but then who cares, in the age of item numbers and songs in Swiss locations with a 100 bandis around a top less hero this movies comes as a whiff of fresh air.

All in all a very well made movie. (Though what made it even more nostalgic for me apart from the private pitch, the closing eyes and able to hear the applause of the crowd was the fact that I learnt most of my cricket right at the stadium where the Ranji match at the end of the movie is shown.)