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Review
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Say Salaam India: A very good effort
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
Cast: Sanjay Suri, Milind Soman, Sandhya Mridul and Manoj Pahwa
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Synopsis: Hari Sadu (Suri) is a cricket fanatic who is hired as a coach for the prestigious Royal Heritage School by his school principal friend, Goswami (Sachin Khedekar). The school has won the local celebrated championship cup for 5 years in a row. The team members comprise of talented but rich and arrogant bunch of boys who take an instant disliking for Hari. The hard taskmaster Hari tries to bring in a positive change in them but instead they conspire against him which results in his ouster.
Without losing heart, Hari decides to coach a lesser known school's cricket team and pitches it in the same tournament which the Royal Heritage boys are dreaming of winning it 6th time in a row. Hari's poor but talented team reaches the final and is pitched against Royal Heritage. With all odds against them and Royal's new manipulative coach, ex - cricketer Harry Oberoi (Milind Soman) using all tricks from the cheating book to win the cup, Hari's lads win the cup and hearts of many.
Acting: Sanjay Suri is in top form. Milind Soman makes a late entry in the second half but looks and acts the part ably. Sandhya Mridul playing Sanjay's wife hardly gets any scope. Manoj Pahwa as the wrestling teacher amuses. All the boys playing for both the teams act naturally well.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
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Direction: Amongst the three directors debuting with their films, Subhash Kapoor stands out. His handling of the subject is appropriate. Without wasting time on unnecessary sub plots his narrative never loses focus from the main plot one bit. Despite not having any big star in his film, Kapoor never once makes you miss any. You just wish the film was very well promoted and the audience response would have been far better. It is definately a must watch for every sports film fan.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
Script: Sometimes we go to a film sans any expectations and it ends up pleasantly surprising us, SSI is one such film. The script by Subhash himself is way above better than some of the cricket based films made in the recent past. The small town setting looks far more real. The climax had a fear of appearing repetitive since having seen such stuff in Lagaan and Iqbal, yet Subhash has managed to keep it very engaging and distinct. Credit here must also be given to all the boys who act it out.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
Music: With its theme the film hardly has any scope for music. The music by Gaurav Dayal comprises of two inspirational tracks Tana Re Bana Re and Haiyya Haiyya which come in the background and are fair enough. The background score is striking.
indya.com rating: 3 out of 5
-- Abhijit Mhamunkar
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