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Iqbal

Iqbal – Review
26th Aug 2005 22.30 IST
By Nitika Desai

Nagesh Kukunoor’s latest directorial venture Iqbal tells the story of a deaf-mute boy who harbors a dream of making to the Indian Cricket team as a pace bowler.

The film stars newcomer Shreyas Talpade in the title role. Naseeruddin Shah plays a village drunkard who coaches Iqbal. Girish Karnad, Shweta Prasad (as Iqbal’s sister) and Prateeksha Londkar (as his mother) make marginal appearances.

Besides having Cricket – which is more than a sport for the Indians (despite our team’s repeated dismal performances) – as the common thread that runs through the entire movie, ‘Iqbal’ is the story of a deprived boy’s grit, determination, hardwork and unending passion for becoming a pace bowler in the national team.

As the movie’s story goes, Iqbal (Shreyas Talpade) is a deaf and mute Muslim boy from a nondescript village. He has a natural talent and flair for bowling at good pace.

Despite his inability to speak and hear, Iqbal dares to dream of becoming a cricketer in the Indian national team. He practices voraciously on his father’s parched farmland with mere three roughly cut sticks as the stumps.

Thanks to his sister, Iqbal gets enrolled in the Kolipad Cricket Academy where he gets training under a professional coach (Girish Karnad). But Iqbal’s training is short-lived as he is thrown out of the academy for no fault of his.

By now, Iqbal knows how to approach the game. And to further hone his skills he pesters the village drunkard Mohit (Naseeruddin Shah) into coaching him. Mohit himself used to be a pace bowler who never could make it to the national team. Now he douses his frustrations with liquor.

At first, Mohit is reluctant and shrugs off Iqbal’s zeal with blithe disregard. But slowly, he relents. He takes Iqbal under his wing, teaches the young boy the intricacies and technicalities of good bowling. And Iqbal shapes up well.

But Mohit’s job is not to just train Iqbal. He takes it upon himself to see that the internal politics that mar the game of cricket doesn’t sink Iqbal, just as he himself fell victim to it once.

Finally, Iqbal gets his big break – a crucial Ranji trophy match, the fate of which would decide Iqbal’s future.

One good thing about the movie ‘Iqbal’ is that it doesn’t make you pity the handicap of the protagonist. It rather captivates you with his determination to make a worthy man of himself despite his limitations.

Nagesh Kukunoor has told the story simply without evoking superfluous sentimentality and melodrama. The dialogues seem straight out of life.

The film rests on strong acting performances from Shreyas Talpade and Naseeruddin Shah. And the ultimate denouement to the story, the last fifteen minutes, brings you to the edge of your seat.

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Iqbal
Shreyas Talpade
Naseeruddin Shah
Nagesh Kukunoor