Movie Name | Gold |
Movie Cast | Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy |
Director | Reema Kagti |
Music Director | Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Sachin–Jigar, Tanishk Bagchi |
Production Company | Excel Entertainment |
Release Date | August 15, 2018 |
Exactly a decade back, Akshay Kumar topped the Khans and became the most saleable actor. At the sane time, he also became unpopular for allegedly sitting on the editors table and chopping off co-actors screen time. Similar symptoms are seen in his second film of 201 – GOLD.
Set around the independence era, the movie is a fictional adaptation of a real event which is India winning an Olympic Gold after India getting free.
The movie begins in 1936 when the British India won a gold in the Olympics. Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) a junior manager of Hockey team has a deep desire to win it as an Azad India. Cut to 1948, he orchestrates a team to eventually get the gold medal. The movie is about Tapan Das’s tapasya to achieve this.
The movie has a length of 2hours 50minutes and umpteen screen time is given to Tapan Das. On paper, the movie is about a team winning a Gold medal. However the movie ends up more as a one mans effort than a team, making it a bit unlikeable because the manager is a fiction and the team was real. Ironically the movie gives some lessons about team effort but the mini doesn’t credit the team as much as it deserves. The team members have back stories but not focused on enough. Also the screen time dedicated to them is just not enough considering the importance that they need. This feeling is more because all the supporting boys have acted exceptionally well. Movies like Airlift definitely needs Akshay to be highlighted the most, but a film like Gold doesn’t need that because its a goddamn team that won the Hockey gold.
Reema Katgi who has phenomenonally contributed to lot of iconic films in terms of script and screenplay falters when it comes to direcing thus film. The brilliance of her earlier films is not to be seen anywhere in this film. she does get the production design and photography in place.
The movie could have done away with songs which only make the lengthy film longer. The track between Akshay and Mouni Roy is so cliched. The bengali aura is made look so artificial. Also, an elder female actor would have suited the role.
Coming to performances, Akshay is usual in his elements and up to the mark. But some antics seemed unwarranted. It’s the coactors like Amit Sadh, Kunal Roy Kapoor and Vineet Kumar Singh that become our favorites after the movie not only because they excelled but also for the pity they received. Pity because of the negligence on screen.
Music by Sachin Jigar doesnt add much value to the film, though the tracks are good stand-alone. As mentioned, the sets , costumes and the production design deserve praise in bringing back the era.
All in all, GOLD could have been a wonderful film given the money, the cast and the technical team.Alas it turned out to be a waste of resources, not some but many.
This historical sports drama is a disengaging affair.