Narrative: Former world number one and India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal's career highs and lows are chronicled in this film. It also honours those who have made a significant contribution to her tenacity and unbreakable spirit.
Review of the Movie: Heroes do not appear out of nowhere. They've been developed. Saina Nehwal, the daughter of Haryanvi couple Usha and Harvir Singh Nehwal from Hyderabad, made history in 2015 when she became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian after Prakash Padukone to achieve the world No. 1 ranking in badminton. She's just 31, but if you're a sports fan, you're probably well aware of her accomplishments, her feud with coach Pullela Gopichand, and why she owes it all to her parents and upbringing in a modest middle-class family. However, there is often more to a storey than what meets the eye.
Even a single sport has a group of well-wishers and experts who can help restore confidence when it is threatened. Saina's mother tells her, "You are Saina Nehwal," after a near-fatal accident and months of being cooped up at home watching the world pass her by. Sherni sherni sherni sherni sherni shern Do not be swayed by the media or the rest of the planet. One's greatest foe is self-doubt. Saina serves as a resounding one to a mother who knows how to hustle and is a hopeless optimist.
In order to be secure, most Indian biographical sports dramas follow a formula. What you get is a hagiography that seldom goes beyond the obvious or scratches the surface. You're familiar with the battles, the path to glory, the decline and the redemption. Given the country's reverence for athletes, few venture to bring up the skeletons in the closet. Amole Gupte's storey is also kept plain. There is no mention of Saina's supposed rivalry with PV Sindhu. The filmmaker emphasises the well-known ups and downs in Saina's life without being patronising or overly patriotic.
We don't know if this happened in real life because the film is a dramatised account, but the mother doesn't hesitate to slap her under 12-year-old daughter for proudly flaunting her runner-up trophy. Second-place finishers have no place in the world of sports. Saina, who is still young and impressionable, is soon consoled by her father, who explains why winning is so important to his wife.
You'd think the incident would shake the young girl's convictions and feelings about the long road ahead, but she keeps her head high, raises her racquet higher, and smashes her flaws. Gupte just scratches the surface of his characters' psyches, and the discussions about parents trying to fulfil their dreams through their children fall flat.
He doesn't seem to exalt the battle or worship the triumph. He captures his heroine as she goes about her business. His execution has a laid-back attitude that reflects Saina's attitude toward herself. She's like the vanilla ice cream she enjoys. More or less transparent, genuine, and uncomplicated. It's difficult to make a seemingly uncontroversial existence exciting when you don't have enough props at your disposal, but he succeeds.
This film's highlight is also the director's mastery of dealing with children. It's incredible to see Mumbai's talented 10-year-old shuttler Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye (as young Saina) demonstrate her talents on the court. She not only looks like the real Saina, but her knowledge of the game gives the movie an edge. Gupte is able to catch the raw energy of an athlete as well as Saina's stoic ambition, which he so desperately wants to portray. You wish he'd do a Richard Linklater and age her in real time, so she could continue to play Saina in the movie.
With no prior experience in sports, Parineeti Chopra faced a formidable challenge in portraying a badminton champion. While it's unlikely that she'll master the game and technique in such a short time, you can count on her to nail the emotion, body language, and mannerisms as an actress. In some critical scenes, Parineeti's best isn't enough because she seems to be out of the moment.
Her eyes rarely conjure the sea of feelings that one would expect her to exude all of the time. Her courage to push herself for a physically challenging character like this is impressive, and few will dare to take the bait. The music by Amaal Mallik is excellent and perfectly captures the pace of the film.
Saina's life has always been sober, relatively uncontroversial, and straightforward, giving Amole Gupte a difficult job. The fact that she is a competitive athlete just adds to the pressure. Her path to world dominance wasn't particularly shaky. Her parents are extremely supportive, she has a wonderful niece, a wonderful group of friends, and a supportive husband (Parupalli Kashyap). She was raised and loved as a winner since she was a child. There isn't a single heart-wrenching dispute in this novel. Amol Gupte continues to try to catch Saina's tiger spirit that lies under her humble demeanour. His film is a feel-good storey about India's Badminton poster girl. The film, Saina, could have been more memorable, but it succeeds in inspiring the youth.
