- Nikhil Bhagwat
GOLD: A Victory!
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sandh, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal, Jatin Sharma, Nikita Dutta & others
Direction: Reema Kagti
Nikhil’s Rating: 3/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: 2 Hours 31 Minutes (151 Minutes)
Release: August 15, 2018 (Worldwide)
Gold is yet another biopic this year.The Hindi Movie Industry has probably got another genre to work with apart from a slew of others. I do not mean it in a bad way just to be clear!
Akshay Kumar in the Hindi Film Gold
Last year, one of the better biopics was Dangal, which starred Aamir Khan as Mahavir Singh Phogat, the coach of the real Phogat Sisters- Geeta & Babita. Together, they went on a journey to win the Gold Medal for India! Now, someone might say: What was Chak De! India about? Well, the only common factor between Gold starring Akshay Kumar is the sport of Hockey! The rest of it, is poles apart.
This film is inspired by a man known as Kishan Lal, who was incidentally the Captain of the Indian Field Hockey team in 1948, the year when India won the Gold medal as a free country & not as British India. This is exactly what the trailer showed the audience. Akshay Kumar essays the role of Tapan Das, which is inspired from Kishan Lal. Set in a time & space of Pre-Independent India, the film is a journey of Tapan Das who manages & assembles the Indian National Men’s team.
Excel Entertainment, the producers & Reema Kagti, who has directed it, have tried to showcase the film as a Period-Sports-Drama.They have greatly succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of the era by paying a painstaking amount of attention to detail to the sets. It is a sight to behold. Writing a biopic is always a tricky job. Though, a film as a medium is a form of fiction, when one does make a biopic, the facts of the person need to be shown. Gold as a film is a fairly accurate depiction of the real person Kishan Lal and the rest of the people involved in the Hockey team with some cinematic liberties.
The screenplay by Reema Kagti, is gripping and engages the audience in the Drama between the team’s Hockey players, Tapan’s personal struggle and the tensions within that period in “British India.” Akshay Kumar as Tapan Das, gets the Bengali accent to the tee. He lives the role of Tapan Das till the last frame. Kunal Kapoor as Samrat is impactful. Amit Sandh as Raghubir Pratap Singh packs a solid punch and leaves an Impact as India’s Centre Forward. Mouni Roy for her debut film has done an able job. As Monobina Das, she does have a fair amount of screen-time. The interactions between Tapan & her at times leave the audience with the required laughs. Vineet Kumar Singh & Sunny Kaushal as Imtiaz Shah & Himmat Singh only add to the story and the overall film.
Title Announcement: Teaser poster of the film
As far as the songs in the film are concerned, as a viewer I felt that they were completely unnecessary apart from a few songs used in the background. The theme song used in the Trailer is energetic though. Editing by Anand Subaya is sharp. Reema Kagti’s direction is fairly strong and the style of her narration keeps the audience entertained to a certain degree, albeit being a tad predictable in the last 20-30 minutes. Álvaro Gutierrez’s camerawork and Production Design by Paul Rowen & Shailaja Sharma is really beautifully done and captures the essence of the period.
Gold as a film that glitters & is yet another fine performance by Akshay Kumar. Watch it in the theatre for the entertainment value and for the experience of watching a good Period-Drama-Sports film.