Sachin: A Billion Dreams not so insightful say some newspapers

Sachin: A Billion Dreams hit the screens today and it has been greeted by the fans with utmost love. All the diehard Sachin Tendulkar fans which is most of India showed their love for the master blaster by turning in numbers in cinema halls. The movie trailer promised that people would leave the theatres knowing more about the master blaster and the Indian cricket but that was not the case as the movie revolves around the Sachin life and pretty much everything about we know.

The film received mixed reviews when it came to the critical aspects of the movie like direction and screenplay. A lot of newspapers wrote differently and of the film. There was, however, a common factor in all the reviews, that being lack of insights. There were no insights provided at the incidents and the controversies were covered tangentially.

TOI is critical of the movie

While the Times of India termed it as the “hagiographic narrative” which roughly means “the tale of the saints.” The review further said that the controversies were disguised and all of his ex-teammates and the commentators just glorified Sachin. The teammates include the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

The review read, “Most controversies around the cricketing God are glossed over. Many of us (me included) die-hard Sachin fans are ready to face the fact that our icon may have displayed feet of clay on occasion. However, the film doesn’t take chances … The hagiographic narrative continues with commentators, critics and colleagues — Dhoni, Kohli, Ganguly, Sehwag and Harbhajan are (sigh!) only eulogizing the Little Master.”

The Indian Express feels pretty much the same

The Indian Express was of the opinion that the movie is a well-made film but falls short in terms of insights. It said that the movie or the “documentary-feature” is something to see for the kids.

Sriram Veera’s review stated, “Sachin: A Billion Dreams is a well-made effort, looks good, but when you reach out for something insightful, your hand closes on air. It’s the dumbing down that makes you sigh. It’s a movie (docu-feature) that you would take your kids to … The real disappointment lies in the absence of any insights,”

The Guardians praise their countryman 

The Guardians praised the British director Erskine and wrote, “the closest thing Indian cricket has to a living deity”. Which literally means that the fans would know more about the legendary cricketer but the Indian newspapers think otherwise.

Read CricTracker’s review here.