Gold
Year: 2018
Director: Reema Kagti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Sunny Kaushal, Vineet Kumar Singh

Under the British rule, India had won 3 Olympics Hockey gold medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936 but as an independent country it won its first one in 1948 London Olympics, which was being organized after a 12 year- long break imposed by the World War II. More importantly India won this gold medal by beating Britain, a country which had ruled it for almost 90 years.

Picking and preparing the Indian Hockey team for these particular Olympics games must have been challenging as the country also underwent Partition and lost a number of talented players who chose to migrate to the newly formed Pakistan. Still Indian players played their hearts out and won the gold medal.

Gold is the fictional account of this glorious campaign. Director Reema Kagti and producers Farhan Akhtar and Reitesh Sidhwani cleverly made sure that the film got released while the Asiad fever was on.

What’s the plot?

An ex- Hockey official Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar), a drunkard gambler, who despite his character flaws, passionately loves the game, convinces the Indian Hockey Federation chief to permit him to go all around the country to scout for players, who would bring home the Olympic gold medal. He ropes in an ex-India captain, a legendary player (Kumal Kapoor) to coach the new team. But despite their best intentions, the road is difficult, especially when Partition scuttles their initial plans. Now they will have to overcome culture clashes, ego tussles, groupism, back-biting, unfair treatment and difficult playing conditions to conquer the erstwhile conquerors in their own den!

What’s hot?

The dramatization of the plot neatly melds reality with imagination. A peep into history tells that 1948 Indian Hockey team’s manager was Dr. Chatterjee, a Bengali babu! Akshay’s central character is obviously based on that info. Amit Sadh plays the character based on India’s finest dribbler Kunwar Digvijay Singh aka K.D. Babu and Sunny Kaushal essays the character based on India’s greatest goal-scorer Balbir Singh Sr. The Indian Hockey Federation chief’s character is based on Naval Tata.

The period feel is recreated beautifully. Most of the cast plays their roles perfectly. The sporting action sequences are captured very well, especially the dramatic finale manages to get the adrenaline pumping.

What’s not?

Akshay Kumar hogs footage and his portrayal seems quite over-the-top. The songs are needless and the editor could have chopped many non-sporting sequences to make the film tauter. Crowd-pleasing jingoism, melodrama and twisting of some sporting facts are irritating at times.

Verdict

Gold is more fiction than fact but still comes across as a well-made sports movie, which highlights Indian Hockey’s lost golden era.

Rating

3 stars