Producer: Manmohan Shetty, Ajitpal Mangat
Director: Ajitpal Mangat
Star Cast: Harman Baweja, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Brett Lee, Mike Hussey, Simon Katich and Stuart Clarke
Music: Anu Malik
We have witnessed many films on the game of cricket like ʽLagaanʼ, ʽIqbalʼ, ʽHatrickʼ and ʽMeera Bhai Not Outʼ. Amongst these flicks, the ones, which ignited the box office with huge success, were ʽLagaanʼ and ʽIqbalʼ. Rest failed badly. Manmohan Shetty and Ajitpal Mangatʼs production, ʽVictoryʼ stars Harman Bweja, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Brett Lee, Mike Hussey, Simon Katich and Stuart Clarke. The film marks the debut of the director Ajitpal Mangat.
ʽVictoryʼ talks about a cricketer, the highs and lows in his life and reveals that how the greed, arrogance and lust destroys his career. And it shows that how he comes back in his form and emerges as a hero again. This is what this film has in store for you. In earlier movies on cricket, the cricketers were not real life cricketers but in ʽVictoryʼ, the real life popular cricketers have been roped in the movie. This certainly makes the film different from the previous ones.
The flick does not narrate the true-life story of any cricketer. A sports film should arouse the emotions of the public sitting in the cinema halls and this one has this potential to get the viewers filled with emotions but this happens only in the final The big drawback of this enterprise is ofcourse the length, which has been strengthen without any valid reason. A shorter length could have brought more worthy results. So a boundary turns to a single.
ʽVictoryʼ depicts the story of Vijay Shekhawat (Harman Baweja) who hails from Jaisalmer. This cricketer soon becomes the countryʼs world-class batting sensation and touches the superstardom. He cannot handle the glamour and the sparkling world of stardom. This all makes the young vulnerable Vijay wander away from the true cricketing profession. Unfortunately, he is then thrown out of the Indian cricket team. The hero becomes zero now and as a result his father (Anupam Kher) suffers a paralytic stroke.
The cricketer, who once played very well, has been removed from the team because he has been making zeros in his last few games. He made zeros because he did many advertisements and endorsed products that made him to loose concentration on the game.
The movie discusses about the struggle of a cricketer who has struggled hard to get a place in the national team and once he finds his place, he is flooded with money and advertisements contracts. And how the glamour and fame makes him behave like Yuvraj.
The tragedy of his father helps his conscience wake up. Now he wants to make his father proud of him again and likes to be the pride of the nation once again. Fortunately, he gets his place back in the Indian team and has a chance to play the finals of the Championʼs Trophy against Australia, where he plays the best innings of his career enabling the team to win the Trophy.
Ajitpal Mangatʼs selection of subject deserves distinction marks since the theme of the film is difficult for a debutante director. Since the leading guy is a newcomer in the industry and the real-life cricketers are there in the starcast, so handle it all seems hard for a debutante but Ajitpal accomplishes the task aptly as a director. Besides, when the director knows that a huge budget is being consumed on the making (as the popular cricketersʼ fees and the rent for the stadiums), the pressure automatically puts on. But this man very carefully and skillfully got the apt results.
The opening reels and the first half of the film lacks the oomph, but once Vijay is thrown out of the team and lands up with wrong person (Gulshan Grover), the movie gets the momentum. The climax of the film is what rescues the film where Hraman plays the best innings to get a victory for the Indian team against Australia. These are very emotional sequences and need claps.
The script is good but has flaws too like the initial reels make you yawn and the post interval portion is stretched without any valid reason making the film so lengthy. Some of the songs have been put forcibly into the narrative.
As a director, Ajitpal Mangat delivers the goods well on screen. But what makes the film fail is the script, which is not watertight. Ajitpal Mangat and Kannan Iyer, the writers could have made it more convincing. Anu Malikʼs music is hummable. Cinematography makes an impact.
Harman Baweja enacts the acting with conviction. His is wonderful. Amrita Rao displays her histrionics. Anupam Kher is brilliant. Gulshan Grover is fantastic. The rest of the cast fills the bill also.
On the whole, ʽVictoryʼ could not fit to the place where it was expected to be. An average movie. Recommended just for one watch.
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