Sachin: A Billion Dreams Review: Master Blaster takes you through his 24-year journey on the 22 yards

Reviewing Sachin: A Billion Dreams is like reviewing your childhood and 24 years of an individual’s hard work, his dedication, his struggles, his glory and his joys. It isn’t a movie that will entertain you, not the one that can surprise you with the script because there isn’t one – it’s a narrative the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar himself telling his story.

I vividly remember the moment my Accounts professor ended the class early on 14th November 2013 so that we could watch Sachin take the field for one last time at the Wankhede Stadium. He was a Sachin fan but more than that knew it was the end of an era – an era that put India on global maps not only from the cricketing perspective but also from brand interests and advertisers shifting focus to the country.

The inception of a dream

He started his cricket at the point when he saw Kapil Dev lift the World Cup trophy in 1983 and that was his dream from that very moment. He was just 10 then but saw a dream and decided to pursue it extracting everything he had on the 22 yards.

His journey wasn’t about how talented he was. He had the talent to be a good cricketer which a lot of players have and had but it was the sheer hard work that he put behind to hone himself ahead of time, assessing and sensing the challenges that lie ahead and prepared his game to become the God of the game.

At the time the 16-year-old started playing for India in 1989, as a country we were struggling, with poverty, political scenario in the country, the instability in the economy and with our cricket as well. As Harsha Bhogle rightly points out Sachin gave the entire country one thing to be proud of and that united them. Since independence, they were the backward country, the nation of farmers and weren’t best at anything, but he was.

Sachin’s emergence as the batting maestro gave a billion people hope and reliability. They knew a man from their land was better than anyone else in the game with legends singing praises every time he took the field and left them in awe.

Those who weren’t familiar with the game now wanted to watch it since a young boy in his teens was making so much news around the world. Wasim Akram who bowled to him first up in Test cricket was expecting a schoolboy game from the 16-year-old but after being bowled for a duck, he was ruffled up with a bouncer that broke his nose in the second inning.

He didn’t walk off and that was an indication of what this opportunity meant to him – the purpose with which he walked out and the reason he was playing the game. Then and there Sachin earned the respect!

He saw tremendous support and love from the fans but also moments where the team didn’t do well and he was subjected to criticism and why not? There were huge expectations. He was the one who was driving Indian cricket then. Sachin’s success meant India’s success.

Sachin’s personal life

The movie shows touching moments when as a kid he would completely exhaust himself on the maidan and was fed half sleep, while his father massaged his legs. When Sara his daughter was born and he held her in his hands; they grew up without him but Anjali took up that responsibility at the cost of her career having completed an MD in Paediatrics.

It was not only Sachin’s struggle – Anjali was there with him all the way through. When he was under pressure as a captain with the team not doing well it affected him as a person, his life was all about cricket. She was confused at times if he was angry with something she did since he was quite all the time and didn’t talk but that was his on-field trouble translating into his personal space.

Anjali dealt with it beautifully understanding what cricket meant to her husband and what he meant to the game and the billions who followed the sport as a religion. She taught her kids how to deal with situations when others in the school questioned their father or criticised him but Arjun had his own way of handling it.

Captaincy troubles and Azhar

As a captain he had troubles with seniors in the team not accepting a junior taking all the limelight – Mohammad Azharuddin was named particularly. There are footages of the former skipper watching over as Sachin signed autographs for the fans who only cared about one man.

He was broken and numb when Anjali walked up to his room in England while they were in the middle of the World Cup and told him that his father had passed away. We all know the story of him performing the last rights, catching back a flight and scoring hundred against Kenya and dedicating it to his father.

He was sad that his father wouldn’t witness any of what he does here after as a cricketer and in his life with the best years yet to unfold. But every time he looked up at the sky after scoring a hundred not only did he thank God who he has extensive faith in but also remembered his father.

His teachings stayed with him and all he wishes to be half as good as him with his character. Ramesh Tendulkar taught young Sachin that his cricket will bring him the name and the fame but that is just a part of his life, his acts as a human being and how well he manages that aspect will stay with him forever.

There are moments that will give you goosebumps – every straight drive that he hits, the desert storm in Sharjah, the World Cup 2011 win, his last Test and how it was a national event and his emotional farewell speech not to forget the moment he was conferred the Bharat Ratna by the President of India.

Unknown details

His friends share a few instance, they say he is still the same like he was as just Sachin and not the God of the game. A friend narrates how competitive he can get even while playing other games or even go-carting.

He played the Bappi Lahiri song ‘Yaad aa raha hai’ for the entire day whenever he was down to get back his mojo and spirits high.

Sachin loves to drive and travel goes off to places where he can live a normal life and where hundreds and thousands won’t flock him whenever he steps out.

If you are a 90s kid you will have memories flashing as his life and career moves on. It’s time to celebrate the master’s contribution to the game, to Indian cricket and to the lives of a billion people. The theatres echo with ‘Sachin..Sachin..’ as the greatest Indian ever takes you through his cricketing journey.

Verdict

Sachin: A Billion Dreams is a must watch for all his fans and the followers of the game.

Rating: 4*