Gold Movie Review : This Akshay Kumar And Reema Kagti Film Does Strike Gold!

If it is Independence Day and you have an Akshay Kumar release, there is little doubt that you'll find a huge crowd outside the theatres. The situation was no different as I found the South Delhi theatre almost full at 8:55am show. Yes, people did flock to the theatres to watch this film and first-day collections would probably bear the evidence to that. But did the film actually turn out to be a thorough entertainer?

Well, the Reema Kagti film does turn out to be absolutely dhamakedaar. The film is about the mad Bengali , Tapan Das, who might always be drowned in alcohol, but his dream to get a Gold in the Olympic for free India is earnest. It is about his struggle to reach to that point where he can avenge the British by defeating the UK in the London Olympics of 1948 in their own soil. 

The journey is not easy and he has to undergo many hardships. The film could have turned extremely melodramatic, but thanks to Reema Kagti's tight script and a fabulous direction, the film not only holds your attention but also keeps you hooked to the edge of the seats.

The hockey matches took mostly the end of the second half and man, it was so good that everyone in the audience cheered when the boys scored at the goal post. The film is riveting and involves you in its journey.

But this would not have been possible if the performances did not match with the script. Akshay Kumar was delightful as the madman who just wants to fulfil his dream and would go to any extent for that. In most of his films, you would see Akshay Kumar in whatever character he plays. However, as Tapan Das, he loses a lot of himself, though some bits of his own real-life personality flashes in a scene or two. But for once, he is less Akshay Kumar and more Tapan Das and that is commendable.

The film derives its power from three other characters though. In the first half, it is Vineet Kumar Singh who will keep you enthralled. And in the second half, Sunny Kaushal and Amit Sadh take over. They are in their top form and this film will only make you wish that we saw more of them, and often. Sunny, who is Vicky's younger brother, seems to be as dedicated to his craft as his brother and hopefully, this film will open more avenues for him!

Mouni Roy , who plays Tapan Das' wife Monobina, is a fierce woman who wants to take care of her husband. She is actually a husband beater in this one, no not in the sense of domestic violence in any way, but when it comes to helping him, she stands like a rock. There isn't much to her character, but she does an earnest job.

What is great about the film is how the India-Pakistan relationship has been shown. Both India and Pakistan have the strongest hockey teams and if there had been no partition, one can only imagine the pool of talent it would have had. Partition is shown in the most riveting way and in sentiment, the two nations are shown as one. No, there is no animosity between these nations in this film, rather they come in each other's support. It had been so heartwarming to see the nations cheer for each other and kudos to the film for not portraying India and Pakistan as arch enemies.

The bad part is the Bengali pronunciations that the characters speak, intentionally. Akshay had taken a dialect coach and he is perfect in most places when he speaks normally. But then there is a transition from fluent Hindi to very funny sounding Hindi that apparently Bengalis use. The continuous 'Uri Baba' and 'Gondogol' will irritate you sooner or later. And for heaven's ake, we do not pronounce gutter as 'gottor'. Can we please get over this, Bollywood ?

The film is an out and out entertaining watch and it is one Akshay Kumar film that does not turn preachy. So you can definitely go for it.