Kaun Pravin Tambe Movie Review: An Aww-Spiring Tale Clean Bowled By Lackluster Storytelling

Cricket is nothing short of a religion in India, and the cricketers have been worshipped by the fans. Bollywood has always found a connect with this field of sports for many reasons and will continue to link new bonds in the future too. A bitter truth is that we haven't been able to convert that religion of sport into God-level cinema. Lagaan remains an exception, but that's not an outright cricket film, so there are literally zero films that can be called really good when it comes to cricket-based dramas. Sachin Tendulkar's biographical docudrama did make an impact, but not as a feature film. So we can say, there's something wrong with it. Not the game, I mean, our filmmaking. Kaun Pravin Tambe adds just another passable pulp on the pitch, and I don't really think that Tambe was that great a legend to get a biopic when there are so many legendary cricketers' stories to be told yet. But I must say that his story is equally great. It's just a matter of success on an international level, because his struggle is bigger than many legends. Kaun Pravin Tambe comes with that impressive thought, but falters with its lukewarm storytelling.Kaun Pravin Tambe tells a story about Pravin Tambe (Shreyas Talpade). At the age of 12, he challenges a security guard at Wankhede by saying that soon he'll be playing in Ranji and you'll be saluting. As life goes ahead, he struggles to keep his dream of playing cricket ahead of everything, and the clash between his professional career and his passion makes things more difficult for him. The film covers all the chapters of his life, be it his personal life, professional life, or on-the-ground life. There is nothing wrong with the writing, as Pravin Tambe's story is nothing short of an inspiring tale for youngsters and middle-aged men, but the screenplay goes flat. Nevertheless, the script ends up conveying one big message: IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS!Kaun Pravin Tambe is handled carelessly. Shreyas Talpade tries too hard to convince us that he is Pravin Tambe, and he somewhat manages to do that with those younger days' scenes. But in the 40s, it's not done, man. Shreyas looks exactly the same in his 40s as when he was in his 20s. No physical transformation at all. No work on make-up, looks, body language, nothing at all. However good his performance was, there was not a single moment when it looked like he was trying to tell the story that took place between two different decades.Anjali Patil looks better as far as the physical changes are concerned, and she is a fine actor too. Not just her, but the supporting cast also includes many talented actors, such as Ashish Vidyarthi, Parambrata Chatterjee, Arif Zakaria, Chhaya Kadam, Arun Nalawade and others. They do look great together as one acting unit.This extraordinary journey of cricketer Pravin Tambe, a right-armed leg spinner who made his biggest cricket league debut at the age of 41, comes with a lot of drama, as expected. The screenplay for the same could have been prepared better considering the fact that his achievement was indeed too difficult while the story always remained an underdog, and also, his fight against his destiny. The calculated space given to his success story is very low, whereas the struggle gets more than one third of its runtime.In the 130 minutes, you see more of Pravin Tambe, a struggling cricketer, than Pravin Tambe, a successful cricketer. When did he learn to spin the ball? You ask yourself because the film does not show any such training sequences where you could witness it. You do see him as a medium-pacer most of the time when the spinner's tale is what you ask for. Even the dialogues fall flat while trying to mix Hindi with Marathi, leaving both audiences confused about the main language. Nevertheless, it is enjoyable."Jaha socha wahi locha" that was a fun and interesting conversation. The film is brought down by its executional faults. Whether it is characters, the preparations, on-ground exercises, or cricket moments, Kaun Pravin Tambe lacks both budget and scale. The presentation looks too weak to keep you on the edge of your seats when you expect a sports drama to be a breathtaking experience.Jayprad Desai's compromised vision of making this one watchable for small screen experience kills the experience in the first place. He handles the drama very well. However, the problematic parts are his grip and storytelling. Rather than going up, the film keeps itself limited to the local level of Gully cricket, corporate matches, Ranji etc. Those political and personal grudges add "typical" elements to make it too mainstream, and you don't find anything new or unique in there. Desai could have taken it higher, but he misses it. This story of an underdog will hit your heart, but not the film. Overall, a good story that deserved to be told, but lacks exclusive cricket kit and is clean bowled by a lacklustre show on and off the field, both.