{"id":3149,"date":"2016-07-06T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T05:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3149"},"modified":"2016-07-06T11:00:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T05:30:35","slug":"gold-movie-review-akshay-kumar-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3149","title":{"rendered":"Gold: So You Think You Can Make Sports Films, Bollywood?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p><\/div>

t is nearly impossible to dislike the premise that inspired Reema Kagti\u2019s <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i><\/a>: After winning gold medals for British India and being forced to proclaim their loyalty to a foreign anthem and flag, Independent India sent its first \u201cIndian\u201d field <\/span>Hockey<\/span><\/a> contingent to the 1948 London Olympics. The fact that India defeated Great Britain in the finals to clinch their first gold medal as an independent country made it even more poetic. It was a <\/span>sporting final <\/span><\/a>rich with the subtext of unity, division, pride, and patriotism \u2013 one of those real-life events that was just waiting to make its way to the big screen. <\/span>\n\nAnd yet, what a missed opportunity, despite a (mostly) stellar cast and fascinating source material.<\/span>\n\nTo understand why <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> is a drab 153-minute-long affair, look no further than how lightly Kagti takes the sporting event and turns it into an <\/span>Akshay Kumar <\/span><\/a>vanity project. Kumar meanwhile, lives up to his reputation by flailing around like a drunk penguin through most of the film. Despite being based on real events that sound remarkable on their own, Kagti chooses to revel in redundancy by fictionalising more than half of <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>\n\nAs a result, you\u2019re left with a film where, on paper, Akshay Kumar reprises the role of a successful hockey captain Kishan Lal, who led a new Indian team comprising inexperienced players, to victory in the London <\/span>Olympics<\/span><\/a>. But on screen, he is Tapan Das, a foolhardy and comic manager of the 1948 hockey team, who is perennially drunk and murders the <\/span>Bengali<\/span><\/a> language with abandon. The fact that he plays a pivotal role in leading India to its first gold is merely incidental. Ironically, for a film about sport, this is also how <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> treats hockey \u2013 as a formality. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s easy to see through this conceit. Making Kumar, an alcoholic and naive manager who\u2019s a victim of bad luck but also has immeasurable passion, gives <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> the room to tap into the star\u2019s various strengths: An enthusiastic comic timing, a penchant for theatrics, evoking rousing sympathy and nationalistic pride despite all odds, and romancing a much younger actress. <\/span>\n\n

Somehow, Gold also manages to fetishise Bengali: The usual suspects \u201cDugga Dugga!\u201d, \u201cKemon acho?\u201d and \u201cOodi baba!\u201d pepper Tapan\u2019s vocabulary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nIt\u2019s even more gruelling to sniff out any semblance of a film from under the mountain of cliches. The journey of a rich Nawab, Raghuvir Singh (Amit Sadh) and a poor Sardar, Harmeet Singh (Sunny Kaushal) are a laboured contrast to depict that despite their differences, they are both united in their love for the sport. A random newspaper just places itself on Tapan\u2019s face as he lies<\/span> drunk<\/span><\/a> on the road with the headline he\u2019s been looking for. The bratty Nawab\u2019s benevolence is disseminated in the film\u2019s most bizarre scene that involves him stopping his car in the middle of the road and stripping down to his boxers to \u201cdonate\u201d his clothes to a beggar he spots \u2013 scenes from 1947, a charity story. <\/span>\n\nThe India-Britain final has the latter leading by three goals by half-time even though back in 1948, India routed Great Britain 4-0. Most of the inspiring and infighting montages of the film are a direct copy from <\/span>Chak De! India<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Centre-forwards Raghuvir and Harmeet are obviously each other\u2019s nemesis on the field, with <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> trying to channel a badly disguised Komal Chautala-Preeti Sabharwal rivalry between them. If in <\/span>Chak De! India<\/span><\/i>, Komal and Preeti\u2019s hostility on the field was elevated by personal insecurities and compelling back stories, then in <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i>, the only explanation given for almost any conflict or problem is the inscrutable male ego. In fact, calling the film \u201cEgo\u201d instead of <\/span>Gold <\/span><\/i>might have been more befitting.<\/span>\n\nSomehow, <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> also manages to fetishise Bengali: The usual suspects \u201cDugga Dugga!\u201d, \u201cKemon acho?\u201d and \u201cOodi baba!\u201d pepper Tapan\u2019s vocabulary. The film shortchanges<\/span> Lal\u2019s nickname, \u201cDada\u201d <\/span><\/a>and supplants it with a heart-attack-inducing \u201cEy Bangali\u201d to sincerely highlight how little they really understand Bengalis. <\/span>\n\nBut the film reserves its worst cliches for its \u201ctwo\u201d female protagonists: Das\u2019s wife Monobina (Mouni Roy) is either tricked into <\/span>cooking<\/span><\/a> (It\u2019s justified as taking revenge for 200 years of revenge, not just a domestic chore), lending her gold jewellery as per her husband\u2019s demands or praying for his team\u2019s win. On the other hand, Harmeet\u2019s girlfriend (Nikita Dutta) exists in the film so that countless neighbours can embarrass her by asking her about his exclusion from the match and she can then sit near the phone waiting for his call. Lest you forget, the film is written and directed by a woman.<\/span>\n\nUltimately <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> is a testament to how Bollywood views sport. Like a majority of filmmakers, Kagti too looks at achievement in sport as an excuse to spoon feed inspiration. As a result, even after two hours, <\/span>Gold<\/span><\/i> ensures that you go back home only with the memory of Akshay Kumar singing the <\/span>national anthem<\/span><\/a>, giving us permission to celebrate Independence Day. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a film about sport, Gold treats hockey as a mere formality in service of an Akshay Kumar vanity project. It only exploits the star\u2019s various talents: enthusiastic comic timing, the ability to arouse nationalistic pride, and romancing a much younger actress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":3150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood"],"yoast_head":"\nGold: So You Think You Can Make Sports Films, Bollywood?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For a film about sport, Gold treats hockey as a mere formality in service of an Akshay Kumar vanity project. 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