Kaun Pravin Tambe? movie review: Engaging cricket drama based on an inspiring true story

Language: Hindi with some Marathi   The test of a good sports film is its ability to hold the attention of a viewer who is indifferent or averse to the sport. I write this review from a place of being an ex-lover of cricket before politics and the overkill of the Indian Premier League (IPL) era put me off the game completely. Kaun Pravin Tambe? is based on the inspiring true story of the Maharashtra-born Tambe who had never played first-class cricket and had tried hard to get a Ranji selection for years before being picked at the age of 41 by the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL – the sport’s most high-profile platform in the present day – and later making it to the Ranji stage too. It is a rousing saga of perseverance, passion for the game and a refusal to retire dreams.   The latter happens to be the chosen theme of the week’s other Hindi film release, Sharmaji Namkeen starring the late Rishi Kapoor. In that film though, an elderly man resists disappearing into domesticity and/or inactivity after being laid off from a long-held job. Kaun Pravin Tambe? is the tale of a late bloomer whose journey is proof that dreams do come true in a way that no fantasy fiction writer could imagine.   Nothing dramatic stands in Tambe’s path to a cricketing career – no massive life tragedy, just life. Sometimes his inability to focus is his biggest hurdle, sometimes it is his own self-defeating choices. Mostly though it is the need to financially support his family in a socio-economic milieu that places little value on extra-curricular activities — and to be fair, cannot afford to — unless they yield a job. These factors, combined with director Jayprad Desai’s largely slice-of-tone, the light touch favoured by writers Kiran Yadnyopavit (story and screenplay) and Kapil Sawant (dialogues), and editor Gorakshnath Khande’s sleight of hand add up to an absorbing, engaging drama with a sense of humour in unexpected places.   The protagonist is introduced in Kaun Pravin Tambe? by the real Rahul Dravid before the reins are handed over to journalist Rajat Sanyal (Parambrata Chatterjee) as a narrator. The tension between Tambe (Shreyas Talpade) and Sanyal feels like an unnecessary addition to the script, with the latter’s closing monologue suggesting that even the writers realised at some point how inexplicable that conflict is. Sanyal’s presence yields another of the film’s superfluous elements – a poor (and flat) joke revolving around a man being asked to cross dress when he loses a bet.   [caption id=“attachment_10507381” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shreyas Talpade in Kaun Pravin Tambe?[/caption] For the most part though, Kaun Pravin Tambe? matter-of-factly recounts the struggles of a middle-class man and his life-long, singular focus on playing for the sake of playing.   Few Indian actors are as qualified to take on Tambe’s biopic as the Hindi-Marathi star Talpade who first attracted the national spotlight playing a deaf-mute cricketer in Nagesh Kukunoor’s unassumingly brilliant Iqbal (2005, Hindi). Now in his late 40s, Talpade’s youthful frame and appearance bely his years. His measured emotional responses to Tambe’s circumstances blend well with the director’s realistic style. He also looks and lives the part of an all-rounder on the field during the film’s smartly edited and directed cricket matches deftly shot by DoP Sudhir Palsane.   In a supporting cast filled with some formidably consistent actors, Anjali Patil and Chhaya Kadam playing Tambe’s wife and mother respectively are noticeable for not crossing the line from concerned relatives to clichéd stereotyping as nags for even one moment. And Ashish Vidyarthi gives a low-key yet stand-out performance as Tambe’s coach, Vidyadhar Paradkar.  

While its focus remains cricket throughout, Kaun Pravin Tambe? also offers some solid insights into lower-middle-class Mumbai, never more so than in the hilarious yet poignant scene on the night of the hero’s and his brother’s joint wedding.

Financial constraints are not funny, but director Desai knows how to find a laugh in a situation without laughing at those who are stuck in it.   This is not to suggest that Kaun Pravin Tambe? is bereft of slip-ups and other moments that merit an eye roll like that cross-dressing scene. Not at all. On occasion, the film throws up a flash of thoughtlessness (such as a shot of a group of boys turning to one particular kid to pull a cricket ball out of what looks like a filthy drain) or tackiness (awkward English language commentary in the end). Attention to detail can be a thing of beauty, and these fleeting portions serve as irritants in a film that gets so much else right.   Kaun Pravin Tambe? also needlessly sidesteps a development in Tambe’s career that, as one newspaper described it in 2020, ended his fairytale run. Honestly, being truthful about it would not have detracted at all from the biography of this man with an undying, even irrational love for his chosen sport.   This is a good time for sports films in India considering that Kaun Pravin Tambe? comes to the small screen just months after Kabir Khan’s fantastic 83 reached theatres. I won’t equate the two, but it is certainly true that when you are least expecting it, when Tambe finally makes it, when the director chooses to tell it like it is without resorting to loud drumbeats, I could not hold back my tears.   Tambe is, in a sense, a gambler whose persistence would have been judged differently depending on the outcome. When a friend one day responds to his doggedness with these words, “Either you are great or you are crazy”, he replies, “Agar successful ho gaya toh great, nahin toh paagal” (literally: if I end up being successful, I am great, if not, I am crazy).” This is a bitter-sweet story that needed to be told and Jayprad Desai tells it well.   Kaun Pravin Tambe? is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Rating: ***

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .