While the Cricket World Cup tournament is in full gear, where hat tricks are imminent, Indian film director Milan Luthria is up to scoring another sort of ‘Hat Trick.’ In his new movie, Luthria’s concept of hat trick is not getting three wickets in three consecutive balls as in cricket, but about 3 successes of five different individuals.
In ‘Hat Trick’, the lives of these five individuals are woven around one event – the Cricket World Cup to be precise. ‘Hat Trick’ takes you straight into the lives of these five characters and there you will encounter how their lives are changed forever in the rollercoaster ride that takes them along with the tournament.
Madhav Anna (Danny Denzongpa), a veteran cricketer, has only one obsession in his life – cricket, cricket and more cricket. A hardcore cricket fan himself, Madhav never gets enough of cricket, whether it is watching or talking about it all the time. Destiny had plans for him to meet Dr. Satyajeet Chavan (Nana Patekar), who is completely the opposite of Madhav. Dr.Chavan loathes cricket so much that anyone who mention about it, he is more than ready to bowl the person out of his hospital.
Saby (Kunal Kapoor) is a cricket addict. The problem is that he is a little too addicted to cricket that even his gorgeous, seductive wife Kashmira (Rimmi Sen) is left out when it comes to choose between cricket and love. The story takes a turn when Kashmira gets romantically obsessed with Indian cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Now Saby is left to outwit his wife’s new found obsession as his jealousy accelerates.
Here is yet another individual in a different part of the world. Hemu Patel (Paresh Rawal), an illegal immigrant who works in London is willing to give anything to get hold of UK citizenship. An ardent fan of cricket, Hemu is determined in his desire even if it means tampering his Indian patriotism to support England in the World Cup tournament.
On the whole, ‘Hat Trick’ has earned innings as a well-made film, thanks to Luthria’s brand new concept of a plot revolving around cricket. Luthria has once again proved his wits in film-making after the critically acclaimed ‘Taxi No. 9211’ last year.
It is not only the story and direction that set the right tone of’ Hat Trick’. The movie stands out technically too. The cinematography is above average and the music and background score is well-balanced moving the story forward. The tracks by music composer Pritam are refreshing and I found the two tracks ‘Ek Pal Mein’ and ‘I Am Coming Home’ quite admirable.
But the credit goes to the top-notch performances of the actors, featuring Nana Patekar and Paresh Rawal at their best. Patekar as Dr. Satyajeet was outstanding and Rawal as Hemu was terrific. Danny Denzongpa’s character was hilarious. Gear up for another rib-tickling adventure with Patekar and Rawal. You just never get enough of them.
The scenes involving Patekar, Denzongpa and the child artist (Patekar’s son in the movie)is amusing. So is the scene in which Rawal gets all dressed up to support England in World Cup tournament. Rawal will sure make you tickle your funny bone! Kunal Kapoor as the cricket maniac Saby did a good job too. Rimmi Sen delivers a fair performance.
On the shortcomings, I felt that some scenes in the first half of the movie stagger a bit though the whole movie was two hours compared to the lengthy Bollywood movies. Neverthless, the movie would have been even more precise and consistence with a few cuts in the first half.
On the contary, the second half was strong and engrossing, which is defintely a high point that shaped up the whole movie. Another point to note here is the editing. Although the overall editing was fairly good, it gets over the edge at few points.
Neverthless, with the many high points to its credit, it seems that after the success of his ‘Taxi No. 9211’ last year, Luthria is yet again set for a triumph. With the witty humor, brilliant acting and an exhilarating plot, above all, coinciding with the ongoing Cricket World Cup tournament, ‘Hat Trick’ gurantees an entertaining adventure!