Cast – Rajiv Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Dalip Tahil, Tasveer Kamil, Varun Buddhadev

Director – Mridul Toolsidas

BLUF: 

Toolsidas ( Rajiv Kapoor) is a legendary snooker player at the  Calcutta Sports Club but he is also addicted to alcohol which his opponents use against him. So his arch rival Jimmy Tandon (Dalip Tahil) uses that information to weaken his focus everytime in Snooker Championship finals to win against him.

Toolsidas’ younger son, Junior (Midi), sees this happen everytime but cannot do anything to stop the defeat from happening. He then decides to learn how to play himself.

For a  13-year-old who doesn’t know how to play the game, he takes the help of his bully older brother Goti, whose main motivation is money. He chooses to learn it the hard way – by learning it from the pros at a local Y at the other end of town where not so polished people play.. He meets the ex-national champion, Mohammed Salaam,there. After constant pleas, Salaam takes Midi under his wings and trains him.

Father and son are pitched against each other for the semi-final of the tournament. Father deliberatly loses the game for his son to have a chance. Tandon, despite playing psychological warfare with Junior is unable to penetrate the game ethic that Salaam taught the kid.

IN THE KNOW

First and foremost. why is this movie not publicised ? This movie deserves all the publicity it can get. Told by Midi, who is the diretor Mridul himself, it is such a personal, heart-felt story of love and accomplishment that it is almost pure magnificence.

The actors are brilliant. Rajiv Kapoor shines. This movie was his swan song. He died at age 58 during the shoot of this movie after a cardiac arrest.

Varun Buddhadev as Junior alias Midi is flawless and he performs with the confidence of a pro. Sanjay Dutt  underplays Mohammed Salaam and is a cinematic delight.Tasveer Kalim as Toolsidas’ silent, suffering wife fits in perfectly. Chinmay Chandraunshuh as Midi’s elder brother Goti is absurdly impressive. He pulls of the idiosyncrasies of the character very well and the scenes between the two are just mind-blowing.

Credit goes to director and writer Mridul Toolsidas for a tight script and brilliant direction. Kudos to Ashutosh Gowariker for bringing this extremely heartwarming story to celluloid.