Okay so admittedly most people will have their favourite genre of films and as for myself, sports films are not my choice of norm. However luckily for me, I thoroughly enjoyed GOLD, a film focussed around field hockey.

GOLD is a sports drama following the journey of India’s triumphant win of their first Olympic gold medal in 1948, after gaining independence from British rule. Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) holds a dream of playing hockey as an independent country, so coaches a rookie hockey team to earn independent India’s first Olympic gold medal.

Akshay Kumar portrayed his signature comical charm and dramatic intenseness in this role. It was also exciting to see him playing as a Bengali; wished he spoke fully in Bengali, as had a Bengali accent but was speaking in Hindi with splashes of Bengali words here and there. Mouni Roy’s official Bollywood debut in GOLD was a notable one, she is definitely one to watch out for in the near future. She nailed the Bengali persona of Tapan’s wife Monobina (being Bengali herself certainly would have helped her in this role!). Sunny Kaushal looked promising, loved his character as a comedic charmer and fiery Himmat Singh. The whole cast was incredible and played their roles immensely well with conviction and what was exceptional was that no one overshadowed each other.

GOLD’s soundtrack was not a disappointing one, ‘Chad Gayi Hai’ has certainly played repeat on our playlist. The music and background score of the film was predominantly composed by Sachin-Jigar and some tracks by Arko Pravo Mukherjee and Tanishk Bagchi. ‘Monobino’ is a hip-shaker and ‘Ghar Layenge Gold’ is that motivational track of the movie.

Cinematography (Álvaro Gutiérrez), editing (Anand Subaya) and direction (Reema Kagti) all complimented each other well, however my only qualm is in the first half an hour of the film, there could have been fewer edits, as the storyline moved too fast and could have slowed down to add more drama and emotion. I felt a bit of disconnect there, but after that, the film really took off into a motivational rollercoaster!

Reema Kagti’s directive skills were not short fallen, the shots and storytelling were engaging and simple to follow. High expectations were placed on Reema to deliver a sports drama if not better, but a movie that could compete with the legendary film she co-directed, ‘Lagaan’. Unfortunately GOLD does not deliver better than ‘Lagaan’, but proven to be a strong contender still. ‘Lagaan’ triggers a more emotional connection with the audience I felt, although whilst watching GOLD in the cinema screening I was in, I kid you not the audience were clapping throughout and even did a standing ovation at the end during India’s national anthem. The audience were left inspired, proud and reminded us of this important moment in India’s sporting timeline.

Overall the film is a family entertainer and will even entertain those who are not sports enthusiasts. Reema Kagti created a film not only celebrating an important sport in India, a milestone moment in India’s sports history, but underlines key messages you can take away. This is one a definite one to watch and highly recommended! GOLD is in cinemas now!

Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆ / 5