He was 17 and a genius in cricket. He got media attention and the selectors heralded him as the future of English cricket. He had everything a good looking, ambitious youngster could have dreamed of. But what he coveted most, he could not get, HIS father’s blessing to go ahead and fulfill his sporting dream.
The film Patiala House is a metaphor for the large rambling English house that Rishi Kappor or bauji has built with his 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration on his back(not simply a piece of land as he says) and he will do anyhting to keep its purity intact. Thus the inhabitants of this house, a rather extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins merely breathe here. They do not LIVE. They live under the looming shadow of what bauji wants and what bauji gets. They each have some secret dream, be it to become a chef, a rap star, an actress but they are not allowed to mingle with the GORA population or society and remain isolated in their domestic confines.
Enters a breath of fresh air, Anushka(much like SRK in Advani directed Kal ho na ho) and with her vivacity and sheer nerve manages to rouse this lethargic but simmering with discontent household into a raging inferno . They plot and plan right under bauji’s nose to send the talented but very helpless and almost spineless Pargat Kahlo to play for England against the traditional enemies Australia. What follows is a tense two fold drama wherein on one side bauji is inching closer to learning the explosive truth and on the other Kaali is recovering his lost form. Will he be able to send the Aussies smashing down in defeat and gain victory over the English mindscape,
The premise of the movie is very racial in character. the back story that had unfolded 30 years back furnishes the reasons why Bauji hates the Goras and does not want his only son to play for the English team. But as Patiala House unfolds, it becomes the saga of the awakening one one man, a man shackled by a strong value system that does not psychologically permit him to rebel against his father for the sake of his dream. He accepts, quietly, to become a shadow of a man, gradually losing his vigour and self respect. Hes a laughing stock in his family because he has no spine and no guts to stand up for himself.
Akshay is outstanding in this angst ridden role. Every night when the world goes to sleep, he practices his bowling in the floodlit backyard. He survives the day because he nourishes his dream, his soul at night. Internaly hes a broken man but he trudges to work every day because he promised his father he would not play again. The anger, the broken dreams, the cul de sac feeling his life has has reached, Akshay displays all this in his persona. He is understated yet very effective. Each stroke of bowling in the final over brings forth his great determination and the unshackling of the human spirit, where he listens to his heart and finally does what his heart has been singing to him about for a long time.
Anushka is lively, infact a little over the top at times. Bauji Rishi Kapoor is capable but is incapacitatted by teh limitations of his characterisation which show him as unidimensional and autocratic. Bit its still pleasant to see him in a full fledgedd role after a long time. You wonder when Dimple as his arm candy wife will justify her role.She finally does in the last 5 mins. She is strictly okay. The cousin who remains pregnant through it all is pretty and a good actress.The rest of the character caste has no fleshing out of their roles and remain rather diffused in the backdrop.
Music is already doing very well. Laung da lashkara comes right at the end but is worth the wait. Rola Pai Gaya is absolutely a scene stealer, a boisterous and very interesting dance item.Kyon main jagoo and a couple of other soulful songs add to the tragic undertones of the trapped hero syndrome.
The first half could have been cut short by 15-20 mins. Nothing happens here. The 2nd half is more rivetting. The final cricket match has been very well shot and the latter half makes up for the loosely hanging first half. The emotions are there and so is a sweet, subtle romance. Its a faithful representation of a typical Sardarji family and where there is Punjab there has to be color, vigor and joie de vivre. On those accounts the movie scores top marks.
A good entertaining fare with strong social and emotional tones. Worth a see. Mostly for Akshay who needs to rise above aviton replays and tees maar khans and reclaim his position as the al rounder emotional hero.