Pan Singh Tomar (PST)
It is very difficult to create an interesting plot and keep the audience hooked without a central character assuming a larger than life image. Pan Singh Tomar goes about doing that and does it with such finesse that your mind never wavers to think wait - where was the all the heroic stuff?? In a long time I can say that I haven't watched a movie where the plot was central to the movie. Coming from movie goer who would stop watching the cricket once SRT gets out, it says a lot about the movie. It is a true biopic. Never was an effort made to project the central protagonist as a superhuman. Not when his superior officer does not allow him to go to war because he is a sportsperson - Not when he is mocked at for staying back while his friends go to war - Not when his cousin taunts him for being a coward running all his life - Not when he falls asleep while his gang members get slaughtered by the police . This I would say is what a normal man would do and not the Hindi film Hero.
It is a simple story of a well meaning man who has been wronged by the system and goes about seeking revenge after knocking on all the doors that he can think of. But the thing that separates this story from the rest is the way he goes about doing it. The movie does not try to justify the hero turning into the villain but narrates it beautifully enough so that the audience can empathise with his suffering.
More than the story, I should say it was Irfan Khan's acting abilities that brought PST to life. Never do you get a feeling that he is emoting - he just seemed so natural in the character. It is the earnestness of his expression when he says he wants to get into sports so that he can eat more food, you realize how good an actor Irfan Khan is. He is ably supported by the support cast who deliver a decent job be it his army superior or his coach. The director also wanted to highlight an underlying message which you realize only towards the end - the way we have treated out athletes : the apathy that has left many die penniless. But then again, if that was the message of the movie, it was alluded to only when PST echoes his sadness saying that people recognized him only for his acts as a bandit and chose to ignore all his efforts a national steeplechase champion.
If the story drags towards the end, it is because there is really no end to a story until the story dies on it own. This was the story of PST and it had to be shown until PST is no more. Perhaps the director could have ended the movie once he succeeds in his revenge. But if he wanted to get his mesage through at the end, it was imperative to show that the path PST had taken had death written all over it.The climax was a little disappointing when he tries to jump across a canal to run away from police but perhaps that is what people in real life do. When you can't fight, you take flight. All said and done PST was a total Paisa vasool!!
It is very difficult to create an interesting plot and keep the audience hooked without a central character assuming a larger than life image. Pan Singh Tomar goes about doing that and does it with such finesse that your mind never wavers to think wait - where was the all the heroic stuff?? In a long time I can say that I haven't watched a movie where the plot was central to the movie. Coming from movie goer who would stop watching the cricket once SRT gets out, it says a lot about the movie. It is a true biopic. Never was an effort made to project the central protagonist as a superhuman. Not when his superior officer does not allow him to go to war because he is a sportsperson - Not when he is mocked at for staying back while his friends go to war - Not when his cousin taunts him for being a coward running all his life - Not when he falls asleep while his gang members get slaughtered by the police . This I would say is what a normal man would do and not the Hindi film Hero.
It is a simple story of a well meaning man who has been wronged by the system and goes about seeking revenge after knocking on all the doors that he can think of. But the thing that separates this story from the rest is the way he goes about doing it. The movie does not try to justify the hero turning into the villain but narrates it beautifully enough so that the audience can empathise with his suffering.
More than the story, I should say it was Irfan Khan's acting abilities that brought PST to life. Never do you get a feeling that he is emoting - he just seemed so natural in the character. It is the earnestness of his expression when he says he wants to get into sports so that he can eat more food, you realize how good an actor Irfan Khan is. He is ably supported by the support cast who deliver a decent job be it his army superior or his coach. The director also wanted to highlight an underlying message which you realize only towards the end - the way we have treated out athletes : the apathy that has left many die penniless. But then again, if that was the message of the movie, it was alluded to only when PST echoes his sadness saying that people recognized him only for his acts as a bandit and chose to ignore all his efforts a national steeplechase champion.
If the story drags towards the end, it is because there is really no end to a story until the story dies on it own. This was the story of PST and it had to be shown until PST is no more. Perhaps the director could have ended the movie once he succeeds in his revenge. But if he wanted to get his mesage through at the end, it was imperative to show that the path PST had taken had death written all over it.The climax was a little disappointing when he tries to jump across a canal to run away from police but perhaps that is what people in real life do. When you can't fight, you take flight. All said and done PST was a total Paisa vasool!!
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