Godha Review - A Sports Drama Which Entertains and Leaves You Introspecting

Sethumadhavan

With Bollywood embracing wrestling in a major way with back to back blockbusters like Sultan and Dangal recently, one could always wonder if Basil Joseph’s Godha is just a knee jerk reaction to the same and an attempt to cash in on the new found interest in the sport. But the truth is far from it in fact and I know this for precisely two reasons, for one Basil was ready with the screenplay of Godha months before the release of Sultan and Dangal, and the other reason being that having seen the film (Godha) it is even more evident that apart from the wrestling angle there’s nothing else that is even remotely similar between Godha and the 2 Hindi films in question. This is actually a relief as otherwise one would only have to sadly set about doing a comparison exercise while setting upon the task of reviewing the film.

How many films have you perhaps seen where the father of the protagonist is extremely talented or an accomplished expert in some field, while at the same time the son by himself is either interested in some other field much to the dismay of the father, or else he’s a great talent himself, only to move away from the field due to some reason, leading to a standoff between the father and the son? Quite a few such films is it not? Now Godha could have been one more addition to the list of such films, perhaps it still is in a way, but then Basil Joseph certainly had other plans and thus the focus is on Aditi Singh (Wamiqa Gabbi), a young wrestling talent from Punjab and how she ends up realizing her dream in faraway Kerala. Everything else is only secondary to this basic knot and in a way that’s an aspect that seems to have worked. The posters and promos have also been quite true to the film, always conveying the impression that the film revolves around Aditi.

Somewhere in the interior of Kerala in Kannadikkallu village we are introduced to Captain (Renji Panicker) and his family which consists of his wife, his daughter and his son Anjaneya Das aka Dasan (Tovino Thomas). Captain is a wrestler of National repute, who still aspires to train someone to international glory while Dasan an engineer, spends his time whiling around with his friends, who are all part of the local cricket club. Much against his wishes Dasan is forced by Captain to go all the way to Chandigarh for his M.Tech, that’s where Dasan ends up meeting Aditi Singh, a fellow student and a wrestler. Dasan falls in love with Aditi but she has her own issues, she is being forced by her brother to give up wrestling and get married instead. A turn of circumstances sees Dasan head back home, only to see Aditi land up there as well, having decided to escape from her wedding. What happens from thereon in the lives of Aditi, Dasan, Captain and the people around them is what we get to see as the film moves forward.

Rakesh Mantodi’s screenplay lays emphasis on building the plot around a number of distinct characters, while managing to keep its focus largely around Aditi, Dasan and Captain. Despite the slightly serious theme of the film there is an undercurrent of humour all through the film, hence the proceedings never get too grim for discomfort. There was a particular moment where I was praying that there would not be any prolonged backstory of Dasan and his tryst with wrestling, thankfully Basil Joseph steers clear of that route, taking us through that aspect in a quick yet unhurried fashion. Another area where Rakesh and Basil succeed is towards the end where Aditi’s brother turns up in Kerala to see her fight, a moment where there was scope for an emotional overdose and heavy dialogues. Luckily nothing of that sort happens, the moment is handled very subtly and in the right spirit indeed.

Shaan Rahman’s music is a big plus for the film, the songs (Aaro Nenjil and WOW are already quite popular) as well as the BGM doing justice to the film. Vishnu Sarma’s cinematography is impressive, bringing alive the outdoors of rustic Kerala and urban Chandigarh with equal comfort. At a run time of just 2 hours the film moves at a very comfortable pace and Abhinav Sunder Nayak’s editing ensures that there’s not a dull moment. Of the supporting cast Sreejith Ravi as the cricket club captain, Parvathy as Dasan’s mother and Bala Saravanan as Dasan’s friend in Chandigarh get noticed and Aju Varghese as Balan, the cousin of Dasan who has a crush on Aditi is sure to make you laugh. Renji Panicker is pitch perfect as Captain, be it as Dasan’s father or as Aditi’s coach, he is very much in control of the proceedings.  Tovino Thomas seems to be getting better with every film, here he not only looks dashing but is also effective without trying to hog the limelight.

Wamiqa Gabbi makes a smashing entry to Malayalam cinema, bringing in the required energy, spunk and charm that the character requires. Most importantly she could actually be mistaken for a real wrestler when we see her fight on screen, credit for this to be shared partly by Basil Joseph as well as the producers for getting their casting choice right and to get her prepared for the challenging role. With Godha Basil Joseph has delivered a pretty good follow up act to his debut film, the successful Kunjiramayanam. This time the stakes are higher, but thankfully he’s delivered.

Bottomline:

Godha is a good sports drama with a dash of humour that makes it work pretty well overall. It’s also embellished with some top notch performances and introduces a bright young talent to Malayalam cinema.

Rating: 3.5/5