The British Raj left an indelible mark on the political development of the Indian subcontinent and hence, any film based on an aspect related to either the colonisation or the Partition in 1947 evokes strong emotions among Hindi cinema’s audiences. 'Gold' is touted to be a fictional account inspired from the real life events that took place in the year leading up to the 1948 London Olympics. Had this film not relied on borrowed moments from films such as 'Lagaan,' 'Dangal' and 'Chak De,' it would have made a perfect watch on the occasion of India’s 71st Independence Day.
With a promising premise, 'Gold' tells us a tale of how India won the country’s first Olympic medal as a newly independent nation. A perfect plotline waiting to be executed well– winning a gold medal in the colonialists’ home ground in 1948. It starts with the British Indian team bagging a gold medal at the Berlin Games and then follows the struggles and challenges that the team and its manager face before coming together for a win that was out of the shadows of British Raj. There are some particularly heart-warming scenes in the film between hockey players both from the newly formed Pakistan and India, depicting how they strengthened each other in the face of a challenge against the colonialists.
However, 'Gold’s' onscreen articulation has little to do with freshness of the plot and more to do with unconvincing and half-baked characters and shoddy execution. It is unclear why Akshay Kumar’s character was a “Bangali” (sic) since his accent seemed forced and stereotypical, and maybe mildly offensive to the community. The only good thing about Kumar’s performance was that he made space for the ensemble cast to shine and enliven their respective characters. The surprise package in the film was actor Sunny Kaushal. Kaushal (as Himmat Singh) delivered a powerful performance as a Punjabi village boy exuding raw energy, and portraying sincerity, passion and frustration effortlessly. Amit Sadh, who plays a scion of a United Provinces royal family, portrayed his character with great finesse. Vineet Singh (as Imtiaz Ali Shah) seemed to be under-utilised as an actor. His character, which was probably written to signify the pain of many of the real Muslim hockey stars of the day who had to migrate to the newly-formed Pakistan, felt incomplete, taking away from what the film could have been. Also, the female lead in the film (Mouni Roy) could not do much to uplift this sinking ship.
At several points in the films, the plot seemed patchy and disjointed. A Buddhist monk who instantly broke his five-year-long silence upon hearing the name of his favourite hockey star, a team manager who slipped in and out of alcoholism effortlessly, an Indian official who did not think twice before betraying his own team of the manager that they deserve, are all unconvincing or stale characters who were put together in a story that could have relied on the actual events to be richer in content. The soundtrack was average, and did nothing to strengthen the plot or entertain. Overall, a good watch if you are feeling particularly patriotic (as I was!) and wish to cherish and relive the moments that, we think, lead to one of the most historic wins in Independent India’s history.
