Shiva and Krishna are childhood friends studying in the same college in Trichy, who share a passion for basketball. When Krishna dies in an unfortunate accident during a game, a devastated Shiva gives up the game and moves to Chennai to get over the grief. He bonds well with his new gang of friends, one Guna in particular. Stuck between the craze for cricket and the resultant neglect of basketball, Krishna is forced to take to the game again. His crusade to popularize the sport forms the rest of the story.
Language:
Tamil
Running Time:
147 min
Rating:
U
Release Date:
28 February 2014
Directed by:
Arivazhagan Venkatachalam
Produced by:
Aascar Ravichandran
Written by:
Arivazhagan Venkatachalam
Starring:
Nakul
Mrudhula Basker
Atul Kulkarni
Jagan
Amjath
Jayaprakash
Music by:
S. Thaman
Shot by:
Bhaskaran
Edited by:
Sabu Joseph VJ
Distributed by:
Aascar Films

What’s Hot

    • Nakul is remarkable in his role as Shiva, a gritty young man who can’t give up his either his passion for basketball or his love, which he emotes well in his acting. His training in the sport has paid rich dividends as he is able to carry off the likes of a professional in the shots filmed on his game play.
    • The support cast comprising of Shiva’s friends played by Amzath and Jagan, liven up the proceedings with great camaraderie that one associates with college life. Atul Kulkarni plays the role of an experience hardened coach with great authority.
    • The director takes up the most glaring issue of discrimination of recognition granted to sports other than Cricket in a Cricket crazy nation. Arivazhagan’s choice of basketball for this story is unique and smart considering the popularity of the game amongst the youth in most colleges.
    • The excellent handling of the camera by Bhaskaran, to capture the dynamic scenes involving the basketball matches, helps a great deal to maintain the intensity of the suspenseful action on the playing field. The peppy background score by Thaman succeeds in keeping the viewers engaged when there is not much of dialogues, which is intrinsic to the success of sports based movies.

What’s Not

  • Soon after the movie gets rolling, the focus on the main plot of the neglect of basketball as a financially viable and entertaining sport fades away. The director tries to project Nakul as the saviour of the sport while shifting focus to his individual life and personal rivalry and suddenly re-emphasises on the sport and team play to resort to a cinematic finish.
  • The role of Mrudhula as Nakul’s love interest is displeasing in the interest of the script which demanded greater emphasis on the sport, to be successful. She does not fit in the character of the daughter of an affluent businessman and tries too hard. The songs induced to show their romance, is another eyesore aspect.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

What promises to be an offbeat film that focuses on reasons for poor patronization of basketball and the inequalities in recognition granted to various sports, this loses steam and fizzles out into another sports based commercial drama!