Bollywood is set to hit the theatres once again with a fascinating sports drama. The fans have always accepted this type of genre with a big heart. Shabaash Mithu will create a similar feeling among the audiences, it is believed. Taapsee Pannu the main lead of the film runs the movie all by herself, with very little or no conventional ‘male hero’ presence in the Mithali Raj biopic. Made in the direction of Srijit Mukerji, Shabaash Mithu comprises all the classical flavours required to prepare one good pot pie. Except for a few misses, the film is as a whole a good watch.
Shabaash Mithu is based on the life of Indian cricketer Mithali Raj and how cricket became the most important part of her life. It starts in her childhood when her close friend Noorie introduced her to the world of cricket. A star Bharatanatyam dancer in her class, who held the bat influenced by her friend, set the record to become the youngest captain of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team. But in a country that worships the ‘Men in Blue’, Mithali and her team’s main aim was to be named as ‘Women in Blue’, which did happen in the end.
Taapsee Pannu stars as the only ‘hero’ in Shabaash Mithu. But her appearance in the film after a good 30 minutes was rather refreshing. However, the story focused a little more on her childhood than required. But we can’t complain as Vijay Raaz has the solid part and he drives the film to a large extent in the settling-down phase. Vijay Raaz plays Taapsee’s coach in the film (Sampath Kumar) and he is the kind of mentor all of us want in our lives.
Another central character of the movie is Noorie, Mithali’s friend. Although her role isn’t lengthy, she surely continues to remain in our hearts for the rest of the film.
Cricket was surely a struggle for Mithali, but not life as her parents were always supportive. Shabaash Mithu did not make any attempts to showcase unnecessary “struggle drama” just to gain emotional sympathy from the audiences.
The film also contains several scenes that honestly depicted the difference in hype between the men’s cricket team and the women’s cricket team. The movie gives us a reality check on instances like the absence of proper resources for women’s basic necessities.
The movie surely is a game changer as it is the first biopic movie on a women cricketer.
