In a recent interview, Rahul Bose said that sports biopics appeal to the masses because the audience has become too cynical to accept or be impressed by fictional heroes and Bose's directorial venture Poorna is one such film which will impress and inspire anyone who watches it. For those who do not know this, Poorna is inspired by the real-life story of a 13 -year-old tribal girl named Poorna Malavath from Telangana who became the youngest girl in history to scale Mount Everest on 25th May, 2014.

I'm not sure how many 'millennials' are aware of this: Back at the turn of this century, actor Rahul Bose (also the director and producer of this film), was literally the face of Indian-English metropolitan cinema-a new genre that was gradually budding with the rise of the urban Indian multiplex. How that cinema, often termed "crossover", got nipped in the bud is another story. But it really started out in the mid '90s with Bose playing the dopey-eyed Agastya Sen, a young Stephanian IAS recruit, looking totally lost in his first assignment, in a small fictional district called Madna.

Bollywood has lately been churning out biopics by the dozen. Most demonstrate a proclivity for melodramatic excess. But not so Poorna. In bringing to the screen the remarkable true story of the youngest girl in history to conquer Mount Everest, director Rahul Bose, helming a film after a 15-year hiatus, settles for an understated mode. The muted methods he deploys enhance this sensitively crafted female-centric, triumph-against-all-odds cinematic account. But let's get this out of the way at the very outset: Poorna doesn't mark the apogee of sports-themed filmmaking.

In a video which has Rahul Bose talking about Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, his hands assume Kabuki poses, his head stays intellectually cocked, and his eyebrows inch closer as if they were about to mate. Bose is talking about the compassion and humanity in Ray's movies, and he pumps up the dramatics only so that we can feel what his heavy heart is truly feeling. I thought I knew what Bose was feeling, but after watching his latest directorial effort, Poorna, I have to say I am not quite sure.

The recipe for an underdog movie is simple: An improbable hero, depressing surroundings, a crushing defeat - usually by interval - and a fighting victory against all odds. Poorna's strength is in its ability to weave a strong narrative within this limit. Its tragedy is that the story never soars beyond the cage of this formula.

Here's an underdog story that has it all: drama, adventure, tragedy, improbability, willpower and a win. For a filmmaker, a biopic on the journey of 13-year-old Poorna Malavath, from a dusty village in Telangana to the treacherous snow-capped peak of Mount Everest, also offers scale and scape. The subject of producer-director-actor Rahul Bose's film, Poorna, has an unlikely but determined heroine at the centre of the action: a teenager who made history by becoming the youngest girl in the world to summit Everest.

IPS officer Pravin Kumar (Rahul Bose) voluntarily takes up a non-uniform job in Public Welfare department in Telangana. He is assigned to examine the status of state run schools, who are grappling with high drop-out rates for girls in the age group of 12-13. It is here that he comes across Poorna (Aditi Inamdar) who on insistance of her cousin sister, Priya (S Mariya) is enrolled to a state run school that shelters children and also provides them mid day meals. Priya is forced into a marriage by her parents but manages to convince Poorna's parents to let her continue education.

The only thing higher than the mountains is the skies - 'pahaad se bhi ooncha sirf gagan' - is an old saying. And scaling Mt Everest is the acme of achievement and excellence. Poorna, which tells the story of Poorna Malavath, the youngest girl to summit the highest, most iconic peak in the world, is every bit as inspirational and goose-bump inducing as it should be.

Everyone loves the story of an unfortunate and ill-equipped underdog who conquers their fears, realizes their true potential and goes on to overcome a towering challenge. 'Poorna' embodies this narrative in a very literal sense. In the absence of the element of surprise (the outcome is clearly advertised in the film's poster and trailer), the challenge is no less monumental for writers Prashant Pandey and Shreya Dev Verma.