One Line Review: Iqbal was the first serious and appealing cricket movie of Bollywood.
Youtube Trailer Iqbal
Starring: Shreyas Talpade, Naseeruddin Shah
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Release Date: 26 August 2005
Introduction
There aren’t many cricket films in Bollywood. There might be five or six now, but when Iqbal was released there was hardly any cricket movie except for Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli, but that’s a whole different Genre. Iqbal was the first serious-themed cricket film of Bollywood.
Iconic dialogues from this movie
“When the mind and the heart work together … then it doesn’t matter which is the mind and which is the heart”
Music
The music was being handled by three directors; Himesh Reshamiyan, Salim-Suleman, and Sukhwinder Singh. The most appealing song of this film is “Aashayein” sung by KK and Salim Merchant himself.
The lyrics go like this:
“aashayein aashayein aashayein
aashayein aashayein aashayein
kuch paane ki ho aas aas
koi armaan ho jo khaas khaas
aashayein aashayein aashayein
har koshish me ho vaar vaar
kare dariyon ko aar paar
aashayein aashayein aashayein
toofano ko chirke
manzilon ko cheen le”
Don’t confuse this song with the one by Sandeep Maheshwari. The notes and chords might match from time to time but they aren’t the same.
Plot Summary
Iqbal has a passion for cricket and a thriving talent for the same to lift him up the ladder but has only one flaw. He can’t hear or say, even a word. That stops his selection in the National Team. His new coach Mohit trains him to use the flaw as an advantage. What is in Iqbal’s fate? Will he play in the National Team?
New winner concept
Everyone wants to see the loser win. But what we don’t want to see in the process is unnecessary excessive compassion/sympathy created by and for that losers. Nagesh Kukunoor understands. He gave us a fun, simple, and smart movie. The plot itself is simple, but it’s always difficult to keep it simple and interesting. “Iqbal” achieved this goal. When we see Iqbal (Shreyas Talpade brilliantly played) carrying the “equipment bag” on his shoulders, carrying it like his most precious possession, smoking barefoot, and the look in his eyes, we hope he wins.
We want you to take off the socks of your opponents-batsmen, wheeled trainers, and anyone obstructing you-we want the world to recognize this. This is what makes you an “Iqbal”. Iqbal’s journey (I won’t call it a battle because victory is in his journey) takes us to his village with a dusty rural background, a buffalo named after a cricket player, and a drunk lunatic Nasirudin Shah, let alone his family.
Acting
Shreyas Talpade fought back with Naseer. Naseer seemed to have just woken up drunk in the haystack and moved on from there, unaware that there was a camera crew around him. Shweta Prasad, as Iqbal’s younger sister, is brilliant, bringing her personality to maturity beyond her age, and she is outstanding. The cricket part is handled very effectively and is not considered an amateur.
The dirt behind the selection process, the situation that helped me, was well expressed, although Kukunoor also solved it very simply. This may be more complicated than the real world of Indian cricket. Nagesh Kukunoor seems to grow into a film producer in every film. His “Teen Deewarein” was excellent, and Iqbal took another step in the right direction. He cleverly handled stories that might be out of date and managed to show emotion without the usual “look at me, I’m very pitiful and cute.” Iqbal is not pitiful, but it is really cute.
Conclusion
Iqbal must be one of the best Indian movies to date. I was so fascinated by this movie that I actually finished it only once. This is a very inspiring movie that tells us that no matter how impossible, dreams are worth fighting for. Shreyas Talpade, the person who played Iqbal, did a great job. The expression on his face and the way he portrays the character are outstanding. Throughout the movie, he doesn’t even have a word of dialogue, but the character’s expression and portrayal are creepy. Naseeruddin Shah proved once again that he is an excellent actor.
