Movie Review: Panga - It is never too late to make a comeback
- In Movie Reviews
- 09:04 AM, Jan 28, 2020
- P Sanjeev Kumar
Direction:
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, the director of “Panga” tells the story of an underdog who makes a comeback in her life braving all odds. This is the story of a National Kabaddi player played by the brilliant Kangana who sets out to play for the nation again, after a hiatus of 7 years.
The director made sure that this sports drama is a little different from the other movies we watched before like Dangal, Chak de & Sultan. The humiliation, the emotional struggle that the protagonist goes through has been depicted quite nicely. She is seen failing each time she tries to achieve what she sets out to, until that climax scene where she finally sees her country through. The emotional build-up all the way up till this final scene, is riveting & makes you stay with the character throughout.
The subtlety with which the director handled the scenes between the three pivotal characters is commendable. Her writing weaves in a touch of humour, in a very subtle way that puts up a smile on our face.
She expertly touches upon issues like “REAL” Woman Empowerment, stereotyping of working Indian women without ever getting preachy.
There are few scenes like the ones below that remain with us.
- The scene where Kangana tells her husband that she is serious about making her comeback into Kabaddi
- The episode where Kangana’s husband tells his son about her past & their love story. Its decent & enjoyable.
- That scene in the hospital where Kangana stares at her son who is in an incubator & says to herself that she’ll take care of him. That will leave you teary eyed.
- That scene where she is about to leave for Kolkata for her training but goes through an emotional struggle because she is going away from her Husband & son, is nicely done. Kangana aces this one with her top-notch performance.
- Finally, the climax scene where she does a Tiger-Chan (you will understand if you watch the movie) is goose-bumps stuff.
Must also mention that the whole set-up seems very authentic making us believe that the story indeed belongs to a middle-class family.
Performances:
Kangana: We all know she is a powerhouse of a performer. She stays true to this reputation in this movie too. Her performance in some of the scenes highlighted above is riveting.
Supporting cast:
All the supporting actors, be it Jassi Gill who played Kangana’s husband or the little boy who played the character of Kangana’s Son or Richa Chadha, are very good and play a significant role in making this one a pleasant watch.
It was nice to see Neena Gupta making a comeback after a long time & she does her job fine.
Positives:
- Kangana’s performance
- Supporting cast
- Direction, ably assisted by brilliant writing
- The theme of an underdog coming out with flying colours against all odds
Glitches:
- Takes its time to establish the story
- There is no real antagonist in the movie except for the circumstances that Kangana faces
- Second half drags a little for about 15 minutes or so
Go watch this one with the entire family.
My rating: 3.25/5
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