Movie Review: 'Paan Singh Tomar' sprints past Bollywood clichés

First-time director Tigmanshu Dhulia deserves a standing ovation for making a ferociously honest film.

A film that’s devoid of Bollywood clichés, but one that holds its own and rises above its competitors, phenomenally.

No raunchy item numbers. No muscle-flexing heroes. No size-zero beauty queens. No lavish movie set. Absolutely nothing that takes away the spirit of this fascinating story.

Dhulia’s genius lies in his poignant storytelling style that highlights socio-political injustices without being a tearjerker. While you do walk out of the cinemas feeling a lump in the throat, there’s no melodrama involved in the narrative.

At two-hours and 15 minutes, editor Aarti Bajaj perfectly pitches the life of lanky Paan Singh, as he gives up his place on the racetrack for a fight for his ancestral rights, at a pace that’s not tiresome.

Cinematographer Aseem Mishra, too, captures, aesthetically, Paan Singh’s emotional journey, as he tackles hurdles of the steeple-chase runner and the emotional obstacles of an outlaw.

But all their work would’ve gone fairly unnoticed if not for Irrfan.

He races to the finish line with impeccable finesse, lending a certain vulnerability to the leggy Paan Singh that none of his peers could’ve ever achieved.

At 45, it’s admirable how Irrfan nails the physicality of a young athlete and that of an aged bandit with conviction, even voicing writer Rajendra Gupta’s lines, those laced in laughter and threat, impressionably.

 “There are only rebels in Beeghad. Dacoits are found only in the parliament,” he retorts, when questioned by the chubby journalist, played extraordinarily by Brijendra Kala, about his notorious activities on the rustic Chambal Valley.

Paan Singh grows from being a naïve soldier, who unaware of his notorious background or inner strengths as a runner takes to the racetrack only for a promise of unlimited food, to giving it all up for a life of dishonor after his athletic feat goes unnoticed and insulted.

Irrfan handles Paan Singh’s initial triumphs and tribulations, and the later rejections, with commendable flair.

It’s his innocent charm, while being applauded by a cute Japanese fan at the Asian Games in Tokyo, that’s stands out as the most endearing.

Being a biopic, the spotlight is rightly on Irrfan, with the supporting cast given less screen space. Yet the performances that do make an impact are Mahie Gill, as Paan Singh’s coy, yet fierce wife, and Rajendra Gupta, as his pushy coach.

Dhulia’s influences from his days as casting director for Shekar Kapur’s “Bandit Queen” are obvious, with the director claiming on many interviews that it was on the set of this movie that he had first learnt about Paan Singh. The rustic landscape and the stories of grit and crime are comparable, but the inspiration ends there. "Paan Singh Tomar" focuses more on the corrupt society that drives a talented athlete into a criminal, then on blood and gore.

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