New Delhi: 'Shabaash Mithu' is a formulaic biopic which also manages to stand out for its many elements including the sensitivity towards the portrayal of its subject: Mithali Raj's journey to great heights. Taapsee Pannu is A-Game in the titular role Mithu/ Mithali Raj and like in all her films manages to bring an earthiness to her character's portrayal.
'Shabaash Mithu' opens to one fine dawn with Taapsee as Mithali Raj taking a run. In that 10 second shot, the entire angst of a young woman cricketer in India is revealed and thus a tonality set for what is to follow.
This shot is followed by the conventional song opening sequence with 'Fateh' sung by Romey and Charan.
In the opening sequence, we interestingly see men and boys playing cricket in all shades and moods like gully cricket and how inbuilt it is in our psyche as kids. What one finds striking is the juxtaposition of a victory song with men playing cricket in a film which is about the journey of a female cricketer Mithali Raj.
For the unaware, Mithali Raj is regarded as one of the greatest female cricketers. She holds numerous international titles and awards. Mithali also happens to be the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket.
It's immediately with the opening sequence and the first half of the film that its maker Srijit Mukherji establishes a sort of feature film that doesn't really feel like a biopic in many ways.
For instance, in the way Mithali's character is introduced through Noorie, her friend who teaches her cricket.
Noorie pees like a with a boy who is standing beside her to establish the fact that batting is not for him. Such a small scene with such a performance by the child artist who portrays Noorie is comendable. In fact, initially as audiences one is misled into thinking that Noorie is the main protagonist until Mithali is introduced in a completely different character shade- of an ace Bharatnatyam student.
'Shabaash Mithu' through such small instances manages to overturn, challenge or expose the everyday norm of women's lives which have been decided and set by a patriarchal society.
Soon after Noorie and Mithali befriend each other, we see them playing and learning cricket together with their Bharatnatyam classmates, all playing the game in 'ghagras'. With a suitable background score to compliment this sequence, the innocence of pure childhood fun is portrayed so exceptionally well that is missing in films these days, and this too without a sense of foreboding of what is to come next.
It is important to mention the many swag moments from 'Shabaash Mithu' which stand out. Like the time the junior Sachin Tendulkar aka Mithu is about to challenge a group of boys to a game of cricket or the time Vijay Raaj's uber cool and untouched 'moh-maya' character is introduced.
These touches vanish in the second half which becomes too flooded with the chronology of important events from Mithali Raj's life.
Another sequence worth mentioning from the first half is the time when the junior Mithali cuts her long hair and presents it to her family which is already reeling with the shock of their young daughter's interest in cricket. The very symbolic move of shedding a strand of femininity so as to enter her new cricketing phase of life is indeed classic.
After this sequence, we see a gradual shift in the narrative to focus on Mithali Raj's character which is then amply suffused with touches from outside to keep a balance that does not make the film 'overtly patronizingly biopic'.
Even the transition from the child artist to Taapsee in the practice sessions is commendable and achieved very organically in the narrative.
In fact, for some reason the first half and the second half of 'Shabaash Mithu' feel like they are two different films.
They oddly contrast in terms of screenplay, tonality and just the way they have been shot. Nevertheless, 'Shabaash Mithu' keeps you hooked until the second half becomes too draggy and dramatic, something that the filmmaker was trying to avoid so consciously in the first half.
'Shabaash Mithu' also has contemporary dialogues, all sharpened with a sense of humour and coy sarcasm that befits the situations they portray.
Dialogues like 'abhi to tere nam ka flames khel raha hoga', Taapsee's soliloquy ( though not necessary), and the casual banter between the women's team players are examples.
Srijit Mukherji also very dramatically coalesces shots like Mithali playing her best to get selected in the national cricket camp and Noorie stating 'qubool hai' during her wedding ceremony.
Thematically, 'Shabaash Mithu' brings home the point repeatedly that the film or its subject or its maker is not looking down on anyone's struggle or the fact that someone has everything and hasn't struggled but the fact that merit/talent stands out no matter what.
The second half of 'Shabaash Mithu' just fast forwards Mithali's life to highlight one momentous moment from her life, the ICC 2017 Women's World Cup in which India lost to England in the finals.
The World Cup happens in the last half hour of the film and is perhaps the best part of the film wherein the filmmaker's skill of striking balance between what to show or not/tell or not/ how much to highlight Mithali Raj or not/make audience root for the film or not among other such elements of the screenplay.
However, before this last half hour, 'Shabash Mithu' feels like a relaxed movement of sound and images that focuses too much on details without delving into them for some reason.
'Shabaash Mithu' prolifically uses flashbacks, voiceovers, soliloquies, and an interesting mix of shots that is a must in all sports biopics, footage from real matches which thus excuses it's many failings like a brooding screenplay and an undecided pace.
Having said that, its star cast's performance and some excellent sequences rescue the film from becoming a plain old school monotony of a biopic, a genre that has been exploited so much with films these days.