Yet another overseas series has come to an end & India has been decimated in every sense of the word by the Kiwis. After having watched India succumb to a woeful 87 run loss in the last ODI in the morning, I was kinda skeptical whether I should be going to the theatre considering how pissed I was. Anywaz I decided to check out "1983" & hoped it would elevate my mood. The promos seemed interesting after all it was about Cricket & the songs were already chartbusters, but did the film actually deliver the goods???
The movie opened with the visuals of my idol & the legend, Sachin Tendulkar delivering his famous retirement speech. The protagonist, Rameshan (Nivin Pauly) who was a hard core cricket lover & a die hard Sachin fan, has been following the game keenly ever since Kapil Dev & his devils lifted the World Cup in 1983. That scene got hooked onto him & since then Cricket has been part & parcel of his life much to the displeasure of his father (Joy Mathew), who wanted to make him into an engineer. Even his love, Manjula (Nikki Galarani) tried to grill sense into him requesting him to be more serious about his life but Rameshan remained the same & eventually she gets married off to someone else. Subsequently, he gets married to Susheela (Srinda) & what stumped him was her ignorance about Cricket as she didnt even know who was Sachin. So will marriage bring any significant change to Rameshan's outlook towards life???
There is no doubt that the film was like a breath of fresh air & the debutant director, Abrid Shine has to be applauded for it. The film focuses on how Indian Cricket has fared over the years & how it relates to the protagonist, something like "Kai Po Che". The biggest plus is definitely the screenplay by Abrid & Bipin Chandra as the sequences and dialogues were damn realistic, pretty much how we used to react when we played the matches. Another major plus was Gopi Sundar's music & BGM with "Olanjali Kuruvi" rendered by Jayachandran & Vani Jayaram being the pick of the lot. On the down side, I wish Manoj did a better job in the editing as the first half seemed to lag quite a bit but it was made up with an engaging latter half. However, Pradeesh Varma has done a fine job with the cinematography.
Nivin Pauly has given a praise worthy performance & fitted the bill pretty well, though he didnt seem so convincing as a 40 yr old father. Joy Mathew has to be applauded on a job well done along with Srinda though Nikki Galarani was average. Gregory who essays a cameo was an absolute scream while the rest of the cast of Anoop Menon, Saiju Kurup, Sanju, Kalabhavan Shajon etc. have all done their roles aptly.
Verdict: Though the first day collections might be low, it will gradually build up from tomorrow as it will garner positive word of mouth. Any person who is an ardent lover of Cricket will relate with the movie, just like I did. Being a hard core Cricket fan & a even greater Sachin fan, many of my friends might think I am being biased, but believe me guys...you got to give this a try!!!
Rating: 3.5/5
Regards...Ben
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