Ghoomer Movie Review

Director: R. Balki
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher, Angad Bedi
Music: Amit Trivedi
Producers: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Abhishek Bachchan, Gauri Shinde, Ramesh Pulapaka, Anil Naidu
Banner: Hope Film Makers, Saraswati Entertainment

After a uniquely entertaining ‘Chup’, Balki is back, this time with a sports drama the is quite darker. Let’s see whether Balki continues to excite or not.

Story :

The movie narrates the journey of Anina (Saiyami Kher), a cricketer with exceptional batting abilities hoping for selection in the Indian Cricket Team, crushing all her hopes an accident happens, in which she loses her right hand when she believes everything is over for her, a former failed cricketer, Paddy (Abhishek Bachchan) tries to help her in rebuilding her confidence and hope to enter Indian Cricket Team as a bowler. The rest of the movie follows whether Anina is able to fulfill her dream or not.

Writing and Direction :

The template of the movie is standard, we’ve seen umpteen sports dramas in a similar structure since ‘Chak De’ but the way Balki held a Sinister twist in the pre-climax and the way he managed to bring darker depths in the movie speaks volumes about his writing abilities in this.

Cinema is all about “Make Believe”, no one in the audience will have a question on how can Anina bowl with one hand. We completely Surrender to Balki’s screenplay which is so compelling, and with his adept direction capabilities Balki makes  the movie more immersive , especially from the accident scene, the movie becomes more focused, Balki shapes the tragedy of Anina’s quite movingly, and all the training episodes feel so stimulating to watch, they are exceptionally inspiring and strongly engaging. The climax moment makes sure to the audience with rewarding feel. It is so poignantly portrayed, where you are overwhelmed by some strong emotions that make you shed the happy-tears.

Performances :

Sayami Kher as Anina was amazing to say the least, her portrayal in emoting her character’s confidence and vulnerability were genuinely impressive, her enactment in the training episodes feels very earnest.

Abhishek Bachchan as Paddy was terrific, the lowly alcoholic dreaming to see a success in his miserable Life. And Bachchan personified the character to the teeth, he was excellent in portraying his character’s pain , anguish , rage , guilt and their combined shades. “Paddy” will be a memorable character in his Filmography.

Technicalities and other departments :

Cinematography by Vishal Sinha was splendid, especially in the darker parts of the movie  where  the lighting and shadows and the blocking adds so much intensity to the movie.

Music by Amit Trivedi was good, as usual Man proves his mettle in compositions of melodies.

Editing by Nishan Ashok Gupta was alright, with a 2hr and 15mins run-time, he kept the movie crisp for the most part.

Positives:

Amazing Performances By Sayami and Abhishek
Strong drama in the Second half
Pre-climax twist

Negatives:

Predictable Story template
Slow Start

Verdict: Overall ‘Ghoomer’ is an inspiring sports drama that’s very engagingly told with very strong emotions.