Nagesh Kukunoor bowls a splendid delivery with his feelgood film of the year that has great acting and good cricket
"It brought back memories of my own struggle for the Indian colours."
Sunil Gavaskar
"It's a simple movie with a powerful message. I'll show it to the Oman team."
Sandip Patil
"I was reminded of Syed Kirmani who'd stop cricket balls with bricks, not gloves."
Kirti Azad
"It's very touching. I felt as though I was in the film. I wish I was."
Vinod Kambli
"Can you bowl?" Shreyas Talpade had to answer this crucial question repeatedly in order to enter Bollywood. "I often wondered whether I was on trial for a match or for a film," he recalls. The twentysomething Marathi actor did not just audition to prove his acting skills but had to give four more auditions for his bowling action. To see if he had the right line, length and pace. A 10-day training session at Hyderabad's St John's Academy followed. Only then could he become Iqbal, India's new celluloid cricketing hero after
Lagaan's Bhuwan.
Ashutosh Gowariker calls him "simply brilliant", M.F. Husain is inspired enough to do a series of paintings. The lead character of Nagesh Kukunoor's new film, produced by Subhash Ghai, finally bowls at the box office this weekend. With
Iqbal, Ghai also launches a new banner for small films called Mukta Searchlight.
On its own,
Iqbal is a lovely little "feelgood" film. But it's the cricket in it that's arousing much of the interest. A few years ago,
Lagaan turned cricket into a wonderful muse about unity and strength.
Iqbal is about contemporary cricket. "
Lagaan was set in the past.
Iqbal is all about the pursuit of one youngster's dream," says Sandip Patil, former India bat and now coach of the Oman team. "Cricket is no longer an urban sport. You can watch the kids play it in every clearing, on the mountains, in the plains and on beaches," says former cricketer Kirti Azad. So you have Iqbal, a poor, deaf-mute bowler in the remote fictional village of Kolipad, nursing dreams of becoming a part of the India XI. He can't afford a coach and does not even own a pair of shoes. He uses twigs as wickets for target practice with his father's buffaloes filling in as audience as well as fielders. "There are many such Eklavyas around the country, struggling without coaches," says Azad.
Iqbal reminded him of Syed Kirmani who is known to have learnt to stop cricket balls with a pair of bricks, not gloves, someone who rose from a humble background to become India's greatest wicketkeeper-batsman. "It brought back memories of my own struggle for the Indian colours," says Sunil Gavaskar. In fact, you can trace Iqbal back to a real-life player. In the early '70s, a deaf cricketer, Anjan Bhattacharjee, played 13 Ranji matches for Bihar over three seasons, taking 35 wickets with his fast medium bowling. The representation of cricket in
Iqbal is interesting in other ways too. The team selection, the neglected domestic circuit, the unhealthy rivalry in academies, the machinations and media glare: all elements ring a bell. Kukunoor was helped by former Hyderabad Ranji captain Vivek Jaisimha and Andhra Ranji player Vincent Vinay Kumar to get the nuances right.
Iqbal is also the only Indian cricket film where the hero is not a batsman but a bowler.It doesn't end with a last-ball sixer but is about knocking down the stumps and bails."I kept the focus on a bowler since they are neglected while the batsmen hog the limelight," says Kukunoor.
Then there's the laudatory secular angle: Indian Muslims are presumed to support Pakistan in an Indo-Pak cricketing encounter but when Iqbal dons the Indian colours to play his first match against Pakistan, you know for sure that he'll bowl them out. And bowl away a popular misconception as well.
For its makers, Iqbal is a "story above cricket". "It's about the hero in all of us. Cricket is secondary; I could have used any other sport," says Kukunoor. In fact, he was toying with the idea of using malkhamb as a backdrop but eventually chose cricket to make the film more appealing to the masses.
On the face of it, Iqbal is a done-to-death formula: the rise of the underdog.Every turn of the plot is predictable yet surprisingly fresh and
compelling. The film doffs its hat to several movies, be it Bend It Like Beckham (Kapil Dev does a David Beckham) or Black, but overall manages to hold its own.
Kukunoor succeeds in treating his hero's disability with enormous dignity. "I wanted to show him as normal. His family doesn't cry every morning. I wanted to make the audience forget five minutes into the film that Iqbal was deaf-mute," says Kukunoor.
In that sense, Iqbal is just the opposite of Black. Instead of the maximalism of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kukunoor opts for the minimum. No character is overwritten, no emotion is overstated. Iqbal works because it knows how to hold back. Its aesthetic is that of the clutterless, humble, slice-of-life films from Iran and like them it's very rich in emotions and warmth.
Every role and relationship is beautifully nuanced. The perennially drunk, failed ex-cricketer and coach Mohit (Naseeruddin Shah) could have easily gone over the top but is a picture of restraint. But then he's a stalwart. Even the nameless actors help bring out a wonderful ensemble performance. The beautiful relationship of Iqbal and his garrulous sister Khadija (Shweta Prasad) has residues of the Durga-Apu bonding in Pather Panchali. "We bonded from Day 1," says Shreyas. "We were like a family," recalls Shweta.
Shot with a budget of Rs 3 crore in Hyderabad and Tenali for 40 days, Iqbal is the most endearing film of the year and may also be one of the best on sports. "It highlights how dreams can come true if they are fuelled by determination and discipline," says Azad. "It can inspire many to increase their self-belief," says Patil. He is planning to use it as an inspirational aid with the Oman team. Why, even the current Indian XI could do with a dose of Iqbal for motivation.
Namrata Joshi with G. Rajaraman