Paan Singh Tomar is a fantastic biopic of an Armyman turned Athlete turned dacoit. Apart from great cinematography, which really brought the Bhihad of MP alive, its the dialogues and the ease with which Irrfan Khan carries off the character which really makes the film work.
But the single most appreciable fact about the film is that it considers the audience intelligent. The film in a way is an excellent way to understand what is wrong with India, without being preachy.
Apart from the most obvious one i.e. How India treats its athletes, the film also sheds light on broader national issues. The scene when the village sarpanch (headman) who betrays Paan Singh is ratting out to the police is a grim reminder of how deeply entrenched the Caste system is in our country & the hypocrisy of the upper castes.
Also, the whole film is an excellent critique of how outlaws are often a result of a corrupt and immoral society - nation, which could put into perspective a lot of our views on Naxalites.
It's only rare that a film so honest and gritty comes out of Bollywood. For the amount of senseless cinema we produce, Paan Singn Tomar redeems Bollywood.
The director Tigmanshu Dhulia goes many notches up with this film, and for me he has joined the ranks of Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap & Dibakar Banerjee for making good cinema
Paan Singh Tomar
2012 [HINDI]
Action / Biography / Crime / Sport / Thriller
Plot summary
Paan Singh Tomar goes from celebrated runner to star brigand and rebel when life after sports fails to unfold as planned.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
July 10, 2023 at 09:08 PM
Director
Movie Reviews
Why you should watch Paan Singh Tomar
A tale of human condition. One of the best biopic from Bollywood. Irrfan was awesome.
I saw this in a theatre. The acting in this film is the shinning point. Especially the main actor Irfaan khan made a great impression on my mind by his excellent acting skill. Irfaan excellently potrayed the emotion of a "runner" who is suffering from pain, frustration and exhaustion, but he is not giving up. The rest is the portrayal of a man who has never had it easy in his life but nonetheless keeps his heart. The screenplay is brilliant. Being a biopic of an army guy/athlete who turned into a dacoit won't b a happy/fun movie. It's a very sad movie. But Irfann did manage to evoke some light moments by his sheer one liners n acting. Imagine an athlete who's very good in running has to run away from police. The direction was good n the cinematography was good capturing the harsh, dry, rural difficult terrain.
Excellent watch - Irfan gives a stellar performance
Watched it in the London Film Festival yesterday. Its a star of a movie. Great tight script, super acting, and great direction. All the actors have done a great job but Irfan is just magnificent- he is turning up as the next Nasruddin Shah
Everyone in the cinema seemed to enjoy the movie and the director got a nice applause in the end.
My worry is that this movie might not get a wide release, specially abroad - I hope UTV does it best to publicise and release it as much as it can.
Well recommended !!!!