Gold

In the beginning of 2016, an Akshay Kumar starrer, AIRLIFT, opened our eyes about an incredible rescue mission carried out by an Indian and shockingly, very few knew about it. It made people realize that there are many such episodes that have been lost in the pages of history. The fact that these stories are not popularly known coupled with the heroism attached to it make it ideal for it to be captured on celluloid. 2 years after AIRLIFT, Akshay is back with another real-life story with GOLD and this time the genre is sports drama.

Whether you literally go for Gold (or not), as it were, you already know this is a sports film. Which means? One, it will be about the victory of the underdog; triumph of will. Two, since we're looking at hockey as an overall team sport, it would operate a little bit little like a group-heist picture-wherein a bunch of disparate folk get together to execute a common mission.

This one opens to the field hockey finals of the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Once the two teams, Germany and British India file into the ground, the electric environment sinks into silence as the Fhrer enters the box. In a synchronised flash, the entire stadium responds with a Nazi salute to the dictator who hadn't made his plans of world domination public yet.

Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) is a junior manager for the British Indian hockey team in 1936 when they win in the finals against Germany in Berlin. Twelve year later, he makes a successful return at the Olympics, this time as the joint manager, defeating the British in London and winning the gold.

Akshay Kumar has gradually become the flagbearer of patriotism in Bollywood and standing true to his image, the superstar brings the perfect gift for his fans on 2018 Independence Day. Gold, which is set between 1936 to 1948 has Olympics as its main aim. It all begins with 1936 Olympics when the team and its manager dream of singing their own National anthem instead of Long Live The King. Gold is about how a man beats his own weaknesses to realize his one and only dream.

The Olympics, 1936, Berlin. The Indian hockey team refuses to join the rest of the stadium in giving the Nazi salute to dictator Adolf Hitler. The moment arouses a flicker of hope that Reema Kagti's Gold will similarly take the knee against the conventions and compulsions of the nationalistic sports movie.

Sports films usually follow a certain formula... there is an underdog team with unity issues, a motivating mentor, a patriotic speech before the climactic match and the final victory. Reema Kagti's Gold starring Akshay Kumar and others, doesn't veer away from this formula and yet, Gold is a film that will warm the cockles of your heart.

After PAD MAN, Akshay Kumar returns back on screen and this time as a manager of Indian Hockey team Tapan Das. The movie opens with the Indian hockey squad called as British India lead by Samrat (Kunal Kapoor) playing the finals of the 1936 Berlin Olympics against Germany. The revolt has triggered in India and the cry for independence is getting all the chorus, one such echo is heard just before the finals, two revolutionary hosts the Indian flag on the bus carrying the Indian hockey squad.

In the Olympics of 1948, the Indian hockey team isn't playing just to win the tournament, but to beat the British legacy of slavery of over 200 years. There can't be a better venue than London. With tempers running high and biceps bulging at the slightest provocation, it's history in making. India is up against Britain, the host, in their den. The crowd is hostile, but admires a good game.

Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) is one thing - passionate. However, he is not a hockey player. He manages the British Indian hockey team and wants to see the team play for an independent India. He and the Captain of the team, Samrat (Kunal Kapoor) vow to win Gold for an independent India even as they bow before the British flag after winning the 1936 Olympics for them.

I'm starting to think we wouldn't have an Independence Day, or even a country, had Abbas-Mustan's Khiladi flopped and not turned a certain Rajiv Bhatia into Akshay Kumar. Yet, 27 years later, here we are, being lectured yet again about the importance of being a proud Indian on the nation's 72nd birth anniversary. Here we are, expected to be in awe of a superstar who insists on improving the nation on screen and entertaining our notions off it.

After 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd' and 'Talaash: The Answer Lies Within', not many would've expected an out-and-out commercial film from Reema Kagti. However, considering Akshay Kumar's recent line-up of films, another venture boosting his 'Bharat Kumar' moniker was surely on the cards. Irrespective of their contrasting turns with this Excel Entertainment production, the duo delivers an impressive and emotion-packed sports drama.

Director Reema Kagti's Gold sets itself on the same playing field - hockey, this time for men - but shifts its gaze to a period stretching from 1936 pre-Independence India to the first Olympics we played after the British left our shores. India, as we know from history texts, dominated world hockey for several decades back then.

Films become important for everything they say, and sometimes for what they don't. Before we sit down and thrash out a Gold movie review, it is important to list everything that Akshay Kumar's Independence Day offering is not. In these divisive times, when using the P-word can get you immediate claps and whistles, Gold shows them as our allies and encourages a healthy relationship.

There is a compelling idea at the heart of Gold: how the Partition of 1947 didn't just split a nation and its people into two but also divided our sports, teams and players. The film, however, gives just a tantalising glimpse of it and prefers to stay on firmly in the familiar, oft-seen "sports-stoking-nationalism" genre.

Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar), coach to the British Indian Hockey team, is frustrated because of the term 'British' affixed with the name of the team. Under his guidance the team wins gold but he wants the team to be free of British rule & they should stand up to the Indian national anthem when the play ends. Because of his alcoholism, he gets fired from the team and as a result he gets involved in outlawed businesses like betting.

In the game with a solitary actor with proven star power, Gold, written and directed by Reema Kagti, glitters only intermittently. Hinging overly on the inner and external struggles of a fictitious character essayed by Akshay Kumar, the sports drama does not adequately mine the individual stories of the plucky players who got the better of Great Britain on the latter's home turf to win independent India's first Olympic field hockey gold in 1948.

A fictional account, inspired by true events and people, of India's first gold medal win as an independent nation at the 1948 Olympics in London. Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar), the team manager, leads the charge to assemble the country's first all-Indian hockey team. His aim is to beat the Britishers at their own game, on their own turf.

Why see a film where you already know what is going to happen? Gold starring Akshay Kumar is the perfect example of a film where the posters, trailers, promotions all scream out the outcome. But the way director Reema Kagti tells this tale is worth a watch. The director puts Akshay Kumar on the backseat. He is the 'paagal Bangali'.

Given Bollywood's feeble record at making films based on real events, it is no surprise that Gold is more fiction than fact. Fact: India, the newly freed nation from 'do sau saal ki ghulami', beat Britain in the 1948 Olympics hockey final. How this happened, the events that shaped the triumphal win, the players and the officials who made it possible, is almost all fiction.