Iqbal [2005] (Hindi): Its not about cricket alone...

If you ask me a list of my most favourite Bollywood movies, Iqbal will feature in the top 5. Like most of the finest movies I have ever seen, Iqbal was an accidental discovery. Until I stumbled upon it, (thanks to a friend who was heavily into p2p and 'import-export' of movie rips), I knew it only by name. Which led me to draw completely baseless and wrong conclusions.
But all my misconceptions were shattered as I plunged into the life of Iqbal as depicted in the movie.

The movie starts with a cricket match being broadcast over radio. The radio is in a remote village, surrounded by lots of villagers listening in on the action taking place on a ground somewhere far away. One of these villagers is a pregnant lady. When the announcer announces the victory for the Indian cricket team, the crowd erupts in applause and jubilation. It is during this celebration, that the lady feels the first pangs of labour. And that's how Iqbal is born.

One thing Iqbal shares with his mother is the passion for cricket. But he never gets an opportunity to follow his passion. The reason being the handicap of being born deaf and mute. And the even greater handicap of being born in a poor peasant's family. His father, a hard-working farmer, wants Iqbal to help him out in the fields. But its not farming that drives young Iqbal, its the passion for the game. But his physical and economical handicaps come in the way.

With unfulfilled dreams and desires, life looks grim for Iqbal. Then one day an accidental encounter with a drunken fellow in the fields changes his life forever.

To say that Iqbal is a movie about cricket would be like saying that Mumbai is a city in India. Its true. And yet hardly touches the tip of the iceberg. No its not about cricket. Cricket is just a platform to build the story on.

As the name suggests, it is the story of Iqbal, his dreams, his struggles, and his final triumph against all odds.

Its also the story of a mother, a peasant's hardworking wife, who is ready to go to any lengths - even go against her husband - to help her son realize his dreams.

Its the story of a father, a poor peasant toiling day in and day out to help his family make ends meet; who only wants what he believes to be the best for his son - even if he has to be hard on him.

Its the story of a sister who believes in her brother; who becomes his ears and his voice; and who, with undying dedication, supports him every step of the way.

Its the story of a brilliant cricket player who was robbed his chance at glory; who, giving up all hope, whiles away his lonely days in a drunken stupor; and who has to rise again and find his own redemption as he helps a deaf and mute boy reach a goal millions dream of, but only a handful can achieve...

The script is very well written. Nagesh Kukunoor's direction is superb as always. The characters are so realistic and well sketched, it hardly feels like a bollywood movie at all. Equal justice is done to all the characters, not just the character of Iqbal. All the actors have performed very well. Shreyas Talpade who plays the role of Iqbal, has taken great efforts to portray a deaf and mute boy. Its not easy to express your emotions without the support of words. And Shreyas does it effortlessly. Naseruddin Shah, one of my favourite actors, plays the role of the drunkard former cricket player superbly as always. The role of Iqbal's kid sister played by Shweta Prasad is brilliant. I liked her performance most. Preetksha Lonkar and Yatin Karyekar have done justice to the roles of Iqbal's patents by their great performance. Even the role of the antagonist, the famous cricket coach who turns down Iqbal, is played very nicely by Girish Karnaad.

There are many movies about sports. Quite a few about cricket itself. But few can manage to make the workings of the game interesting, entertaining, and effortlessly weave it within the tapestry of the movie itself. This movie does it so brilliantly and plausible that I almost applauded during the movie's climax...

I could continue ranting about how good this film is. But after reading this, don't you feel like watching the movie instead of reading my raves and appreciation? Well then why wait? I enjoyed this movie. And I hope you will enjoy it too...

My ratings: 4.5 !

October Sky [1999] (English): Some dreams do come true

It was a dark winter evening. Just past 7. The room was dark, as I put on the TV. It was the year I had to take a drop during my Engineering studies due to too many KTs. My confidence was running low and I found myself in a self-imposed house-arrest.

So there I was, unable to concentrate on the studies, with my mood as dark as the evening, I put on HBO. The movie had just started. I had missed the name by seconds. I was about to switch the channel, when the screen told me that this particular anonymous flick was based on a true story... 'Oh, is it?' I thought with mild interest and decided to stick around and see what it was about...

To my surprise, the very first scene started with the radio broadcasting the launch of Sputnik - the first man-made satellite to be launched into space... From that point on, I was hooked.

During my childhood years, I had a fascination for space and space-travel... So any movie having anything to do with space was bound to capture my interest... So I stayed on for a while... And ended up watching the entire movie....

The start is a bit slow. Its where the stage is set, the characters sketch themselves, slowly taking shape as they blend into the story.

Its a biopic of a boy named Homer H Hickam. Homer is born and brought up in Coalwood, a typical American "coal town" - a town built around the coal mine. A town where each boy follows his fathers footsteps into the coal mines as a miner. Only one lucky guy will escape this predestined fate - the one who can bag the sports scholarship.

Homer is no good at sports, unlike his brother. His father, a supervisor, who has spent all of his career in the mine itself - for whom mine is the only way of life - wants Homer to either win a sports scholarship or follow his footsteps into the mine...

Overshadowed by his brother's achievements, stifled by his dad's expectations and unable to come to grips with the fact that he may well have to spend the rest of his life working in the mine, life looks grim for poor Homer...

Then one day, a single little event changes the straight predestined course of his life. On an evening in October, he sees a majestic shooting star in the sky. But this is no ordinary celestial body. Its the first man-made object to revolve in orbit round the earth.Its the recently launched Russian satellite Sputnik. As he gazes with awe at this man-made wonder in the sky, he suddenly realizes what he wants to do in his life...

Does a movie require bad guys, super heroes, gorgeous heroines, romance, disaster and the climactic fight between good and evil, to be entertaining? This movie proves that age old formula wrong. Here dream and determination are the heroes, and difficulties, obstacles and fate are the villains.

It glorifies a boy who dreams to be different. A father who wants the best for his son. The clash between a fathers expectations and his sons dreams. A teacher who inspires her students and shows them that sports is not everything, and that science can be a fun hobby too.

Its a movie about an era that's now long gone. And yet it manages to entertain as well as inspire even today...

May be I like this movie more than others will. It still featured at the top of my most favourite movies list. And there is a reason why...

It was my dream to become an astronaut or at least an astronomer. As I grew up, I went for Engineering instead. It was my dad's dream, and I just went along with the flow. And the dream remained just that - a dream.

And here I was at a point where I seriously doubted my choice of a career and how good or bad I was in it... It was at this low point of my life, that I stumbled upon this gem of a movie... Not that it changed me for the better. But it gave me hope that some dreams do come true...

My rating: 5