For many years after the era of family dramas and emotional stuff and then during the Khanna-Bachchan era there were hardly any movies made on the lives of real life heroes. As our young nation at that time clamoured for either a romantic lover or later for the angry young man tales and action as if they were searching for a quick fix hero who could do anything and everything. Saina movie review…
The audiences went to cinema for entertainment where logic hardly played any role, however in the last few years things have changed as the nation has matured, we needed real heroes whose life would inspire the desires of a billion people. We have seen a spate of biographical movies mostly on the lives of famous athletes or sports persons, some on famous freedom fighters and some surprisingly even on the lives of gangsters.
Movies like Dangal, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Sardar, MS Dhoni An untold story, Daddy and add to that the docu-drama on the life of Sachin Tendulkar and many more such movies. The latest to join the bandwagon is Saina based on the life of our very own ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and her story will be an inspiration to all youngsters.
The movie shows what it takes to be a world beater. The movie picks up thread from the time when an eight year old Saina moves to Hyderabad with her family, her mother being a state badminton player in Haryana drafts her into the coaching academy 25 kms from where they live then her progression from there as she starts winning tournaments, her meeting with her future coach and Guru who shaped her carrer.
Strangely this is Saina’s authentic biography however they have changed her coach’s name, the world knows that she is a product of Pulela Gopichand academy, well she did have a fallout with him, which is chronicled in the movie. I am so sorry in the flow of things I forgot to tell you that Saina is played by our very own Parineeti Chopra, what with grim and confident exterior but still very much a youth inside, that’s Saina not our Parineeti.
Most of the time is squandered away in tournaments shown in fast forward mode with a voice over as Saina in reminiscing her years given to badminton. Though there are shortcomings in the script, the story is interesting but the punch is missing unlike Dangal. Maybe there is no build up shown before important tournaments. They could have also devled better on the rift between Saina and her coach. Still one point is successfully brought out, that it takes true grit, determination, hard work and loads of sacrifice to get to the top and you also need a Guru like P. Gopichand who only lives the game, without these elements one cannot turn ones ambitions and dreams to reality.
The film’s direction is weak, commentary seems a bit matter of fact and lifeless, the movie itself seems low budget. The celebrations shown after every major win is muted. There were high hopes with such an interesting tale of India’s top sports person, it seems an advantage frittered away.
Parineeti though she tries really hard is just about bearable. Such a huge mole on her face, looked odd and oversized. The fellow who plays her father is wooden. Her sister is added or deleted as per convenience. Her mother the driving force in her life is played with an excessive chutzpah by Meghna Malik of T.V. serials fame (well she fits any Haryanvi speaking female roles). Manav Kaul as the coach is sincere to the point what he is asked to do. One more thing that is a bit of an eyesore, that thousands of shuttle cocks start falling like raindrops to inch the movie forward in time.
– Review by PAWAN GUPTA
Cast of SAINA:
Parineeti Chopra as Saina Nehwal
Manav Kaul as Rajan (Badminton Coach)
Eshan Naqvi as Parupalli Kashyap
Meghna Malik as Saina’s mother
Subhrajyoti Barat as Saina’s father
Ankur Vikal as Jeewan Kumar
Sameer Bassi as Rohan
Tawhid Rike Zaman as Rohan’s Friend
Sharrman Dey as Damodar
Credits of SAINA:
Production companies – T-Series Films, Front Foot Pictures
Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sujay Jairaj, Rashesh Shah
Directed by Amole Gupte
Written by Amole Gupte, Amitosh Nagpal
Music by Amaal Malik
Cinematography – Piyush Shah
Edited by Deepa Bhatia