Rating: 9/10
By now, you must be aware of how incredibly knowledgeable and smart this author is. I know that I seem perfect. My dear readers, it is not true. The time has come when I must burst your bubble. There is one thing in which this author is absolutely useless. Sports. Never have I ever played a game and won. I have always lost every one of them though. Isn't that a skill too?
Paan Singh Tomar, quite like me, was a national treasure. He was an army man and a seven-time national steeplechase champion. Have you guys heard of steeplechase? I hadn't until I saw the movie. It is a 3000-meter race where you have to get past water pits and hurdles along the path. Paan Singh started running for an ulterior motive. To satisfy his large appetite(now that's a reason I wholeheartedly understand). The medals just came along with the food.
The romantic scenes between Paan Singh and his illiterate wife Indira are very endearing. There is one in particular that comes to mind when Paan Singh tells his wife he broke the National Record. "What did you break now!?" she asks in a really exasperated tone. "You're always breaking things when you go out!" I really wanted more of their scenes. Well, I suppose the other things were more important(pout pout pout).
National treasures aren't treasured much. Have you heard of Sarwan Singh? He won a gold medal for India in the 1954 Asian Games. He sold that medal to stave off starvation. That's just one example. Sportspersons do not often get their due unless they are cricketers here. Our Paan Singh became a dacoit when the law failed him. In his words, he became a "rebel". We can't help rooting for him till the very end as Irrfan brings to life Paan Singh as an army man, an athlete, a husband, and a dacoit.
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