Panga Movie Review - Worth taking the panga

PangaUA Drama RomanceDirectorAshwiny Iyer TiwariCast Kangana RanautRicha Chadha Neena Gupta Jassie GillRatingDont know how it works for you as an avid moviewatcher but over years my brain appears to have developed a switch that trips at a moment in a movies timeline from which point I realise the movies dropped and that itll never recover from it again More often than not this scenemoment occurs in the second half of a picture and the film inevitably goes downhill thereafterDid that happen while watching Panga Yes But oddly enough in a reverse way There was actually a moment in the movie from which point I began getting involved in it more and more Up until then I kept thinking in my head all this is good and all But so what Whats the pointTheres the lead character in her early 30s She used to be an international level sportsperson But she had to bow out of the stage owing to pregnancy and the usual pressures of raising a family from thereon She plays kabaddi which is to Indian sport in terms of mainstream popularity what Gully Boys hiphop might to be to the popular music scene That said this isnt quite the rags to glory kinda triumph of the underdog type story in a usual sports film or in a Nitesh Tiwaris Dangal 2016 sort of wayCheck out the trailer of Panga hereThe lead character is a working wife in a reasonably welltodo middleclass home And even if she does miss kabaddi at 32 she can at best take a meagre shot at it for some time given how physically grueling kabaddi itself is mdash unlike more ageagnostic performance arts like say music acting or even within sport golf chess or some such And its not like she hasnt achieved what she had to mdash shes been there done that having captained India no lessYet there is this point in this picture when shes on a train being bid goodbye by her little son and her husband mdash both of whom have actually encouraged her to take on a new challenge Its at the moment that shes about to leave the two people she cares for most unsure if theyll be able to take good care of themselves that the film takes on a subtle realism which is so true for functional families that many kids and adults might instantly relate toThis is when the storys sur and saar point and poetry become crystal clear This is a very realistic deeply measured inherently mature story about chasing dreams Quite unlike similar scripts about people having given up on their dreams and been depressed all along until a second chance comes their way mdash think Rock On 2008 type of picBut its clearly not always an eitheror one thing over the other kinda extreme sacrifice scenario For Jaya the protagonist here a family indeed comes first and shes happy where she is except that she can be happier still And no person circumstances included in this movie as with life is a fulltime jerkThe husband is supportive mdash something youll find more common in modern societies and some films reflect that well Suresh Trivenis Tumhari Sulu 2017 did the same Kangana Ranaut plays the fun feisty Jaya in this film titled Panga which might well be the adjective best suited to Ranaut offscreen And whatever you may think of her public outpourings the fact is that she rarely if ever disappoints on screen giving her character and this film her all mdash striking a fine yet firm balance between confidence and vulnerability chutzpah and selfdoubt care for family and love for the sportThis is at the end of the day very much a sports film with all the entertaining accouterments that you would expect from the genre Of course one has to credit writerdirector Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari Nil Battey Sannata Bareilly Ki Barfi for effectively lacing it all with a touch of humour warmth empathy besides fullon action on the kabaddi mat Looking deeper what stand out are aspects in this movie that reveal an eye for detail For delight is always in the detailWhether thats the cities that the film surveys primarily Bhopal but even Kolkata Mumbai and Delhi Or sundry scenes on the husband and wifes worklife in the Indian Railways Or the bits about how kabaddi as a sport works in India mdash the best players are usually routed through the railways Or the proverbial Hindi film heros bestfriend inverted with Richa Chadha striking quite a pose with her Bihari swag and streetsmart line Or that female voice Asees Kaur in the song Wahi hain raste hottest vocals Ive heard in longhellip Could go on As you can tell theres much to admireCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates