There is a famous snippet that most of us have heard from when India’s second President Dr S. Radhakrishnan visited the Prime Minister of Britain Winston Churchill. It is when our President preferred to eat with his hands than use the cutlery provided, which bothered the Prime Minister of Britain. His argument was that eating with a spoon was more hygienic than to use your hand. To that Dr. S. Radhakrishnan responded saying, "Since nobody can use my hand to eat, my hand is more hygienic than any spoon or fork you use." And while people will continue to argue that it depends on the kind of food that you are presented with, the point I’m trying to make here is that when you consider a medium to be superior than the act itself while glazing it with a fact that has no backing, you are allowing it to define you and also judging the ones who don’t stand by it.
When Oprah Winfrey visited India, she was perplexed that Indians “still” eat with their hands implying it was a practice followed predominantly by underdeveloped nations. Well, what followed was an uproar and like so many clichés that people all over the world have about our nation, this was another on the list. Believing that eating with our hands is directly proportional to our development reflects the limit of knowledge and experience of the speaker. The unique has always been considered an outcast. And I guess that continues.
We are in our 71st year of freedom and yet we are judged not by our potential but by our traditions. Call it a coping mechanism for the world to underplay the might of India or just plain ignorance, either way, we are and have been on a path of development that no country ever was when it was young and free as we are. And we will continue to enchant and amaze.
So why do I bring this up today? Well for that you have to watch the film and realize that why we don’t consider it “unhygienic” to get our hands and feet dirty when we know the purpose it is being done for. The cutlery you use to eat and the shoes you wear on your feet or even the language you speak are for a purpose. When that specific purpose is being defeated, you let go of it. That’s what the tradition is.
Written and directed by Reema Kagti, Gold is the tale of Independent India’s first Hockey team that secured first place in the 1948 Olympics held in London after defeating the home team and more importantly our rulers of 200 years. It was a matter of pride, dignity and of course plain and simple revenge. Gold is a winner from the word Go as the script and the fact that it is based on a true incident makes it a compelling watch especially on Independent India’s 71st birthday. Ms Kagti has put together a story and directed it flawlessly proving to be a testimony that you don’t have to be a man to direct a feature presentation that is predominantly male oriented. She has successfully brought out the pain, despair and helplessness that our forefathers were put through with regards to the choice of their nation as it was cut through, mercilessly.
The star studded cast is spear headed by Akshay Kumar who plays Tapan Das, the man responsible for bringing together a team and making sure it reaches London to make the country proud. Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Mouni Roy, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal comprise the core cast along with other equally talented supporting actors. Akshay Kumar as always shines through but this time in way that is subtle yet powerful. As there are characters that have their own screen time and with several parallel stories being told at the same time, he dons the role of a conductor who leads the orchestra into a melodious symphony.
With a running time of nearly 155 minutes the movie is long when compared to its current peers. Excessive songs and a pace that can really get to you, the film could do better with some more editing. The music is average and according to me didn’t do its job that a sports oriented partition drama is capable of. Of course the climax does give you goosebumps but the music has little role to play as the emotions and the fact that it is Independence Day, take center stage.
Gold is definitely worth a watch as again, it tells you a story that most people including myself were unaware of. It’s the story that again proves the might of the ‘divide and rule policy’ and how, even today we let ourselves be consumed by the same hatred that has been planted over 70 years ago between the two nations by an outsider. If you wish to watch toddler India give infant Pakistan an equal opportunity in the 1948 Olympics and watch infant Pakistan cheer for toddler India in the finals, Gold should feature in your weekend watch list.
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