Panga
Year: 2020
Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Cast: Kangna Ranaut, Jassi  Gill, Richa Chadha, Neena Gupta, Yagya Bhasin, Megha Burman

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari had garnered enough accolades in her two film-old career. Nil Battey Sannata’s touching mother-daughter story and Bareilly Ki Barfi’s goofy comic punch were solid proofs of her firm grip on the movie medium. Naturally the expectations were high, when she decided to team up with Kangna Ranaut to make a Kabaddi-centric sports-film. How does she fare in this new assignment?

What’s the plot?

Panga begins as a story of a do-it-all working woman who is happily balancing her day job as a railway cashier with her myriad family responsibilities, the most important being taking care of her naughty but fickle-health school-going son. The husband, a senior railway employee himself, is suitably proud and supportive of his super-mom wife. It is a perfect picture of domestic bliss!

The flashpoint comes when the child discovers that his mom is the ex-captain of India’s Asiad-Gold winning Kabaddi team, who had left the game for the sake of family duties. He forces his mother to stage a comeback. What begins as a forced, feeble attempt to regain her game fitness, slowly turns into burning quest to reclaim old glory! With her best friend-cum-ex-team-mate guiding and goading her to go through the physical and emotional grind, the once-celebrated-and-now-forgotten veteran player begins her comeback. Will she be able to summon the strong will and courage to do the hard mile? Or will her unflinching sense of duty towards her family once again hinder her progress in the game she loves so much?

Verdict

A story that begins as a cozy, banter-filled domestic drama turns into an engaging sports saga. Kangna Ranaut is superb in the lead role. From a typical overworked working lady whose domesticated life is centered around her son and husband, to a determined sportswoman giving it her all to return to the top tier game, Kangna perfectly nails the nuances of the central character.

The film, besides highlighting a none-too-glamorous game of Kabaddi, and showing the unsavory sports politics, mainly succeeds in showing how important is the family and friends’ wholehearted support to reach sporting pinnacle. Jassi Gill as the sweet husband, Yagya Bhasin as the lovable kid, Richa Chadha as the motor-mouth, supportive friend and Neena Gupta as the antagonistic mother, essay their well-etched roles with elan and give the perfect team-support.

The sporting moments are captured nicely but the climax ends up being less than rousing.

Still, all in all, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Kangna Ranaut’s creative Panga is a watchable, heartwarming film, and a welcome addition to Bollywood’s slowly growing sports film-genre.

Rating

3.5 Stars