Monthly Archives: January 2022

Review: Down Underdogs – India’s GreaTEST Comeback on Sony LIV

After watching Kabir Khan’s 83 and being mighty impressed with it, I felt there should be a sequel to the film based on India’s test series victory in Australia in the 2020-21 tour. But 83’s box office performance clearly indicated that a second film in the series is practically impossible. But Sony Sports’ documentary on the same series Down Underdogs: India’s GreaTEST Comeback has fulfilled my wish.

Despite it being a documentary, for cricket lovers this is nothing short of a well-made cricket feature film that makes you go through various emotions while celebrating India’s greatest test cricket win overseas.

Choosing this test series as a subject is a fair amount of job already done. It has all the ingredients of a Bollywood movie script, although it’s not fiction.

There is an embarrassing downfall right at the start as India gets all out for a paltry 36 in the first test at Adelaide. One can just imagine the team’s morale at this point when the whole world spoke about it while the Australian media made merry.

Before the decider fourth test, almost an entire team gets injured [captain Virat Kohli is already gone home after the first test]. The acting captain Ajinkya Rahane has to settle with whoever is available in the team! Debutant Mohammed Siraj’s father passes away during the series and he has to play with a heavy heart. Then we have ‘villains’ in the form of Tim Paine with his taunts, the Australian media and the racial abuse by few Australian spectators.

Isn’t this right out of a Bollywood potboiler? And like most of the dramatic movies, we get a tease of the ending part at the start in Down Underdogs as well and then the film then goes into the flashback mode.

Any sort of comeback in the series after being 36 all out would have been heroic but India did much more than that. What makes the experience even memorable is director Wrik Ganguly’s narrative and presentation of the series in the four-episodic documentary.

Also read: 83 review – Near flawless recreation of India’s cricketing triumph

There is no anchor presiding over in the background. The series is narrated by a long list of cricket experts – Sunil Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogale, Sanjay Manjrekar, Mohammed Siraj, Hanuma Vihari, Michael Clarke, Isa Guha, Nick Knight, Gaurav Kapur, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vivek Razdan, Ayaz Memon, Joy Bhattacharya etc – whose bytes are used in a simple manner that provides a smooth narrative.

India Australia 2021 — Source: YouTube screenshot

A lot of these people are cricket commentators but what they speak in the film is not what they generally do in the commentary box during the matches. The conversation is more fruitful, insightful and exclusive to the film.

It is also noticeable how an atmosphere is created before every match or an important event through the visuals, especially of the particular city where the match is being played. In other words, you just forget that you are watching a documentary.

Also read: Can we stop giving unreal reasons for 83 box office failure?

Down Underdogs ends in an overwhelming and exciting manner when Rishabh Pant hits the winning runs in the fourth test at Gabba, Brisbane. That moment and the scenes that follow provide as much satisfaction as the final moments from feature films like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and 83.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Director: Wrik Ganguly

Platform: Sony LIV

Can we stop giving unreal reasons for 83 box office failure?

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Kabir Khan’s 83 is one of the rare films to get such high number of glowing reviews from critics. Not just that, the Ranveer Singh-starrer cricket drama has also received equal praise from the audience. The film transformed a cinema hall into a stadium through its overwhelming recreation of India’s 1983 World Cup triumph.

However, this hasn’t been enough to translate into box office success for the film. In fact, to put it simply, 83 has been a box office failure. The film is made at a budget around Rs 200 crore (one senior journalist even claimed it to be Rs 270 crore) and right now it’s struggling to even reach Rs 100 crore.

So, talking purely in terms of business, 83 is nothing but a failure. I know a lot of people who loved the film are hurt by this. I can completely understand because I too am such a big fan of the film that I have seen it twice already in theatres and I am willing to watch it again. But, as said before, this is purely in terms of business.

With so many people left disappointed and disheartened by 83’s result at the box office, it is obvious that this has become a hot topic of discussion and debates online. I have been constantly reading some silly reasons being dished out on social media for the film not working out. And, unfortunately, such reasons are also being heard from few people who are from film journalism itself.

Here’s what has been attributed to 83’s downfall at the box office on social media:

People are staying away from theatres because of the rise in COVID-19 cases and the new threat of its Omicron variant

While there is no doubt that the fear of COVID-19 has resurfaced, this cannot be the reason why 83 didn’t get as much audience. The biggest proof of this is the stupendous box office performance of the Hindi version of the Telugu film Pushpa. The movie released on 17 December 2021, a week before 83, and is still doing well even as I am writing this on 8 January 2022.

83 Ranveer Singh — Photo courtesy: Cinestaan.com

The same is the case for Spider-Man: No Way Home which released in the same week as Pushpa. If people are not visiting theatres to watch 83, how are these two films still getting audience? In fact, a lot of shows given to 83 earlier are now given to Pushpa since the film is continuing to attract moviegoers.

People are now used to watching content on OTT platforms and hence don’t feel like visiting theatres

The answer to this point can be found in the previous one. OTT has definitely found a great booster in the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean people are not willing to go to theatres. Again, if that was the reason, Pushpa and Spider-Man wouldn’t have done such enormous business. Not to forget, Sooryavanshi too did very well in theatres when it was released during Diwali.

The film didn’t do well because of the #BoycottBollywood gang

The silliest of all reasons by a mile! There has been a rise of a #BoycottBollywood gang on social media in recent times and they are of two types. One are the members of the audience that are die-hard fans of the late Sushant Singh Rajput. They claim to boycott all big Hindi films until ‘justice’ is done to SSR. But if they are really the reason for the film’s failure, the same film wouldn’t have done do well in metros like Mumbai and Delhi. And as pointed before, Sooryavanshi too wouldn’t have become a hit.

These ‘warriors’ are also specifically against films starring star kids. But then, Tadap (2021), the launch of Suniel Shetty’s son Ahan Shetty, did decent business despite of him not being a star.

There’s another bunch of this gang which has vowed to boycott all films starring Deepika Padukone because she stood with the JNU protestors in 2019. The fact that the film did well in the metros, as stated before, nullifies this claim too.

Reason for 83’s box office failure

There is a wide gap in the content preferences between the urban and non-urban sections of India. The box office result of 83 has just exposed this wide gap. The content of 83 has more appeal for the urban audience than the one based in small towns and villages. This might sound weird to many but masses of these regions won’t get excited to know the journey of a team winning a World Cup.

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This was also confirmed recently when I had a chat with the most experienced exhibitor in Gujarat, Rashmikant Bhalodia. When the film was going house full in advance in Mumbai, the theatres in Gujarat, especially the interiors, were going empty.

Also the film’s promotions didn’t reach the interiors of India. The promotions mainly consisted of the team travelling in big cities. There was an article mentioning how people in a village-like area didn’t even know that a film called 83 had released!

The wide gap between the both section of the audiences is also visible in the consumption of OTT shows. While we may love edgy or dark shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, such content is hardly seen in the semi-urban areas or villages. They still prefer south Indian action films dubbed in Hindi.

And they had that choice this time in the form of Pushpa. The film had every masala that the masses of these regions prefer. So it’s obvious that they would prefer this over 83. In fact, Pushpa earned more in its recently concluded third week than the previous one. This has also ensured that its shows have increased.

The fate of 83 is very similar to that of Swades (2004). The Ashutosh Gowariker film failed at the box office but it continues to be hailed as a great film. The same will happen with 83.

Also read:

Zimbabwe’s iconic record in the 1983 World Cup is forgotten

Play review: Tum Aaye To

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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic has been so high that it has, naturally, inspired artistes in almost every field around the world. Kirdaar Art Academy’s Hindustani play Tum Aaye To is based on various every day humans affected by the lockdown in some way or the other.

The play is an anthology of five stories with the backdrop of the COVID-19 lockdown.

1) The first one is a poetry performance that falls more in the street play genre. It features a group of youngsters reciting a poem ‘Tum Aaye To’. There is no doubt that the pandemic has taken a toll on many of us. But at the same time, the lockdown brought back some old days of togetherness. This is the highlight of his performance. And while doing so, it doesn’t veer onto the insensitive path at all.

2) This is followed by the tragic story of a daily-wage laborer and his wife. They are forced to return to their native place on foot, like thousands of others, because of the halting of all work in the lockdown. The play succeeds in making us feel for the two individuals and for that the performance of both the actors is a major contribution. You are taken back in time in 2020 when we saw their plight on news channels.

Tum Aaye To play — A still from Tum Aaye Toh

3) The doctors and medical staff in the entire country carried out a thankless job during the pandemic by putting their lives at stake to save many others. The third play focuses on their story and brings to light their plight of working tirelessly amidst such scary times. After making us go through various emotions, the play ends on a positive note.

4) A major aspect of the pandemic was online classes for kids after their schools were closed. The fourth one is a light-hearted portrayal of teachers adapting to this change in teaching style and its consequences. Along with providing humor, this one also gives a moving message in the end.

5) There is no doubt that everyone struggled in the pandemic, including the well to do. Many of them have been content with being safe personally and getting their demands met. This play is a reminder to them that there are many out there who are way less fortunate and they need their help. This one also puts across its point in a positive manner.

A total of 16 actors were a part of the play and they played 46 characters. It was a mammoth task but they were up for it. Iqbal Niyazi’s direction needs to be lauded for handling stories of different genres with ease and taking out good performances from these many actors.

It also needs to be noted that the actors are strugglers trying to make their mark in the films and TV. For some of them, it was their first outing on stage. As claimed by Niyazi after the show, it took him 90 days to prepare for this performance of 90 minutes.

The script is to-the-point and at the same time full of emotional moments. The use of music and songs also enhance the overall effect.

The makers have made smart use of limited number of props. The lighting also falls on the positive side. The only questionable aspect was the portrayal of the media in the second story.

All in all, Tum Aaye To succeeds in moving you.

Writers: Dr Naaz Khan, Mumtaz Niyazi, Iqbal Niyazi and Javed Sarwar

Design and Direction: Iqbal Niyazi

Also read: Kusur play review – Amol Palekar’s return is an interesting emotional thriller

Also read: Play Review: Subodh Bhave-starrer Ashrunchi Zali Phule