A person who has ever been to a cricket field and witnessed Sachin Tendulkar face the opposition in the middle with the willow in his hand would have shouted “Sachin Sachin” at the top of his or her voice. Though the arena has changed this time as the discomfort of a hot afternoon is replaced by the cool air of the air conditioners or pitch dark surrounding in place of beaming floodlights, the excitement to seeing Sachin narrator his life, in and outside the 22 yards, on the big screen will generate equal amount of excitement in the hearts of every die-hard Tendulkar fan.
“Sachin – A Billion Dreams”, the much awaited biopic of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, is not a feature film. It is actually a docudrama that depicts the tale of a young Marathi boy chasing his dream, a dream that bears massive resemblance to the dreams of thousands of young middleclass Indians who aspire to make it big someday with hard work and dedication.
It is true that as fans we all know what he has done for his nation in his illustrious career of 24 years. What we know is that with 100 centuries and 34,357 runs, as a batsman he is second to none but what we don’t is the cause. Starting from his days at the ShivajiPark, the 2 hours 18 minutes long film shows a slice of the humongous net sessions in which the master toiled hard to convert every weakness into his strength. For generations to come, this film will probably stay as one of the finest sources to draw inspiration to work relentlessly with ethics, discipline and honesty to achieve goals.
Apart from the contributions of his brother Ajit and the sacrifices of his wife Anjali, who quitted her medicine career so that Sachin’s focus remains on his game only, the film will serve the audience with several personal and private videos of the Tendulkar family which will portray how, despite reaching unimaginable success at a very young age, Sachin stayed rooted to his middle class values which were largely taught to him by his father Ramesh Tendulkar, a well-known Marathi professor and poet.
Although Sachin is synonym of God, directed by James Erskine this film is not about hero worship.In fact, this is a story of brave heart who had the guts to stand up every time he fell. Be it the sudden removal from captaincy or the tennis elbow injury Tendulkar revealed how his family and close friends helped him from losing faith in himself.
Sachin did not held himself back for slamming Greg Chappell for disturbing thee team’s equilibrium just before the 2007 world cup in which India was knocked out in the group stage. He also showed aggression for those who purposely led the team and the nation down by fixing matches. In his word, that was the “darkest phase of Indian cricket.”
Unlike other biopics that have been made on lives of Indian sport personalities, this movie is free from unnecessary sentimental exaggerations. Whatever little outburst of emotions has been shown is quite legitimate if one had a career as long and eventful as Sachin’s.
To cut the long story short, it can be said that when the film ends with Sachin finally achieving his dream of lifting the world cup in his hometown Mumbai, you will leave the hall with a feeling of motivation blended with nostalgia. As you see some of the most remarkable knocks of Sachin on the silver screen, your heart can recall moments of the past – where were you, what were you doing and who were you with when Tendulkar was actually playing to innings.
Fifty years from now, if a person asks why Sachin Tendulkar was th epitome of cricket in his playing days, by watching “Sachin – A Billion Dreams” he or she will get to know the reasons.
MSMN’s Ratings:
Direction – 4/5
Dialogues – 3.5/5
Story – 3/5
Music – 3.5/5
Visual Appeal – 4/5
