Blending cricket with a social message

Sports films have really taken the Indian film industry by storm in the last decade. Adding to the long list of releases in this genre, a Tamil remake 'Kousalya Krishnamurthy – The Cricketer' makes its entry into the theatres this week.

With women's cricket making quite an impact among the sports lovers and local stars carving out their own fan support among them, showcasing the struggles of a determined girl who wants to make it big in cricket is par for the course.

Yet, the ambience in which it is based, with a supporting father and a skeptical mother to boot apart from the rural lifestyle which it settles in, makes the film a different experience.

Debutante Aishwarya Rajesh, who has had a notable presence in Tamil and Malayalam cinema over the past few years is the sportswoman heroine who wants to play cricket to realise her father's dream of winning the World Cup for India.

Rajendra Prasad, seen in a longish role as the ambitious girl's father plays his role to perfection, with Jhansi, his wife, not always happy with his indulgent behaviour towards his daughter.

A slow start to the proceedings acts as a dampener but cricket fans get engrossed as the heroine grows from strength to strength and rises to the level of being considered for the national team.

Enters Sivakarthikeyan, reprising his role from the Tamil version, of an inspiring coach, whose cricketing career is cut short owing to an injury. His motivational approach makes the difference to the players who shed their individualistic mentalities and work as a team to bag the honours.

A near-realistic tone to the narrative and a deglamourised look of the heroine as she is focus personified makes the vital difference between a typical commercial film and this movie.

Keeping away from romantic tracks and dream sequences is another temptation which director Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao is successful in executing.

Whether the crazy attraction for cricket will match the audience expectations is something yet to be seen, as the star cast has nothing going for it and the pre-release buzz, muted at best.