Striker: Review

Striker is the kind of film that fills you with regret. There is skilful direction here, some nicely etched moments and commendable performances and yet the film never gathers enough momentum to make an impact. Striker never becomes the film it could have been.

Plot

Set in a Mumbai ghetto in the mid 80s, Surya (Siddharth) grows up with few luxuries. Poor health keeps him away from school often and that is when his elder brother, Chandrakant (Anoop Soni), introduces him to carrom.

Hopes for a job in Dubai replaces the passion for carrom as Surya grows into a young man. Duped by a bogus overseas employment agency, Surya loses his hard-earned money he had saved for going to Dubai and he's forced to cross paths with Jaleel (Aditya Pancholi).

Reintroduced to carrom by his childhood friend Zaid (Ankur Vikal), Surya starts playing again. Being robbed of his cash by the same man who had caused misery for many families, Surya decides to take on Jaleel on his turf.

Performances

Siddharth whom we last saw in Rang De Basanti, is very good as the angst-ridden Surya who plays his life out on the board. Aditya Pancholi looks noxious and enacts his part just too wonderfully. Anupam Kher does an okay job, partly because his character is not well-defined. Padma Priya looks confident. Ankur Vikal does very well. Seema Biswas gets into the skin of the character. Vidya Malvade doesn't get much scope. Anoop Soni is perfect. Nicolette Bird is passable.

Eventually then, Striker just isn’t compelling enough for a trip to the theater. But there are many good things here. So I recommend that you wait for the DVD.

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