Enough reviews have been written about Iqbal and yet now that I have seen it, me thinks you just cant resist spreading the word! To tell as many people as you can, please watch it and that too in a theatre. Give good cinema its due so that more people are open to go off the beaten track and create something like Iqbal.
By now, the story is fairly known. It’s about a deaf and dumb boy who LOVES cricket. It’s like his redemption. The fact that he cant speak or hear just becomes immaterial after a first few scenes. He can’t hear a single sound and yet he can LISTEN to the applause across the cricket stadium. I think the scene where he closes his eyes and can feel the sound is one of my MANY favourite scenes!
The performances are sheer brilliance! Shreyas Talpade as Iqbal is just so perfect. To express everything with eyes without uttering a single word is no mean task. The body language just rocks.
Shweta, who has played his sisters part, is absolutely adorable as Khadija. She is the younger one, yet you can feel the strength of her emotions, her love for Iqbal and the protective streak that she displays throughout the movie touches your heart ever so often. Mind you, she is the one who lets you have majority of laughs too!
Pratiksha Lonkar, as Iqbal’s mother, ever supportive, ever loving, ever smiling shines in her role. Her helplessness and resolve to decide between her son’s dreams and her husband’s plan tugs at your heartstrings.
Yatin Karyekar as the father, a poor farmer, who can look beyond his existence and subsistence is poignant. The quartet as a family makes you fall in love with them right away…
Girish Karnad, who is always dependable, doesn’t let you down even this time. His role isn’t all that great, but he does full justice to it and brings it up.
Naseeruddin Shah… what does one say about this brilliant actor. The change from a loser who has taken to drinking to a coach who wants nothing more than his pupil Iqbal to achieve his dreams… its just AWESOME!
The best part is that the movie belongs to EVERY character. They don’t have any unnecessary add-ons. The smallest character suits the role perfectly. I quite like the captain of the Ranji Team (I missed his name) who looks like a leader who inspires. The rich brat, batsman Kamal is a good foil. (Didn’t anybody notice he looked SO MUCH like Rahul Dravid?)
Kapil Dev, still so much a heart person, you cant help but smile the 2mins that he comes on the screen…
All in all, the movie HAS to be experienced…
And Teen Deewarein is on my watch list again!
Ps: hubby, have written about something pan-indian… nothings more so than movies and cricket and a movie about cricket...