Kaun Pravin Tambe? review: Shreyas Talpade expertly capture's Pravin Tambe's perseverance but the film is devoid of passion

Biopics on cricketers have become in increasingly popular in Bollywood lately and Kaun Pravin Tambe? enters the league as a humble tribute to a man who refused to give up on his passion for the sport and finally made his mark at the age of 41.

Pravin Tambe’s tale makes for an invigorating narrative but sadly the biopic on his journey feels rather underwhelming. The IPL player who has vowed at the age of 12 to make it big as a Ranji level cricketer never gave up on his dream, even as a father of two, at the age of 40, where the world around him was busy making a case for his retirement from the sport.

From being written off as a ‘gully level cricketer’ consistently by a sports journalist Rajat Sanyal to finding his place in the Rajasthan Royals IPL team, Kaun Pravin Tambe? covers his journey full of ups and downs but what director Jayprad Desai fails to highlight is the moments which reflect what keeps his passion going.

As human story, there’s a lot to learn from Pravin’s journey, however, the film is busy juggling between Pravin’s personal struggles, his odd jobs, him running around convincing people of his passion to actually dedicate time to his on field charisma. While it helps in highlighting what it really took for the man to find his place among the best cricketers in the country coming with no prior first class cricket background, when it comes to the field the spark goes off.

It is hard to connect to leading man when he’s on the field, which in turn makes you wonder at one point what makes you wonder what drives Pravin Tambe’s passion that he hasn’t given up for so long even after so many around him did?

Kaun Pravin Tambe? dwells for far too long on the cricketer’s struggles making what should have been a glorious climax rather underwhelming. The cricketer’s perseverance is worth celebrating but so is his talent which only gets a passing nod every now and then in a pool of naysayers.

While one would think Pravin Tambe’s journey has enough film worthy material in terms of challenges, sports journalist Rajat Sanyal’s loud opinions (literally, as the narrator) of him simply get thrown into the mix for no apparent reason which further dilute the plot. As if the story of man in his 40s trying to balance his home life, work and his passion for cricket needed that additional burden, Rajat Sanyal is projected as a man who hates Pravin Tambe’s very existence simply after learning about him.

Not only does it make his character one dimensional, it also makes it a failed attempt at inserting a bad guy into the narrative where there isn’t one. Parambrata Chaterjee does well to make his character look like a snob looking for his own validation by betting against Tambe, but it is irrelevant to the story.

Shreyas Talpade, on the other hand, deserves an applaud for intricately capturing the tone and struggle of Pravin Tambe. The actor does well in making you feel his character’s desperation and drive but it is the script that falls short in putting you in Tambe’s shoes. The supporting cast including Ashish Vidyarthi, Anjali Patil, Chayya Kadam do well in their designated roles.

Overall, Kaun Pravin Tambe? is a fairly straight forward film with obvious biopic tropes but even with its flaws it is a story that deserved to be told. It only leaves you wishing that it was told better.